May: Brexit at risk if EU deal voted down
Britain
Theresa May enters one of the most tumultuous weeks of her turbulent leadership as Parliament prepares to decide the fate of her Brexit deal, and possibly her tenure as Prime Minister.
With her agreement facing almost certain defeat in a House of Commons vote tomorrow, May will make an 11th-hour appeal with a warning that there’s now more chance of members of Parliament blocking Brexit than of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal.
“What if we found ourselves in a situation where Parliament tried to take the UK out of the EU in opposition to a remain vote? People’s faith in the democratic process and their politicians would suffer catastrophic harm,” May was to say today.
“We all have a duty to implement the result of the referendum.”
May’s warning comes after the
Poland
A man with a knife rushed on to the stage during the finale of a charity event and stabbed a Polish mayor in the abdomen, leaving the politician in very serious condition in an attack that media said had a political element.
Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz grabbed his belly and collapsed on stage during the “Lights to Heaven” fundraiser organised by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, Poland’s most important charity.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said he was informed that “doctors succeeded in reanimating the heart of the seriously injured Mayor Pawel Adamowicz and there is hope, but his condition is very difficult”. He called for people to pray for the mayor.
Polish broadcaster TVN said the assailant shouted from the stage that he had been wrongly imprisoned under a previous national government led by Civic Platform, a party to which the mayor formerly belonged. The suspected attacker was arrested.
TVN broadcast footage of the perpetrator, just after the attack yelling that his name was Stefan and that “I was jailed but innocent . . . . Civic Platform tortured me”. Sunday Times reported that some MPS are planning to seize control of the legislative agenda from the Government in an act that would allow Parliament to extend the March 29 Brexit deadline or even overturn the decision to leave the EU. A senior government official described the plan as extremely concerning, since if it succeeds MPS would gain control over not just Brexit legislation but all legislation.
May has 24 hours to save a deal with the EU that’s taken almost two years to negotiate, but the task looks virtually hopeless. The Prime Minister appears no closer to getting the backing she needs than she was in December, when the vote was dramatically pulled before it could be rejected. The question now is what she should do next.
A defeat would leave Britain on course to leave the EU with no new Police said the suspect was a 27-year-old with a criminal record and had carried out bank robberies. A police spokesman, Mariusz Ciarka, said the attacker gained access to the area with a media badge. Radio Gdansk said Adamowicz was stabbed in the area of his heart, but did not cite its source, while Rzeczpospolita described the mayor’s condition as “critical,” citing unidentified sources. A spokesman for the hospital called his condition trading arrangements in place. According to Bank of England analysis, such a chaotic split could hammer the pound and home prices, and plunge Britain into a recession.
Brexit-backers argue that May should go back to the EU and renegotiate the most contentious parts of the deal before putting a revised agreement to a vote, though Brussels has indicated there’s little room for compromise. Senior ministers are also said to be urging May to seek a joint plan with the Opposition Labour Party, raising the possibility of a significantly softer Brexit.
Labour wants to topple the government by forcing a general election, and leader Jeremy Corbyn indicated his party could bring a no-confidence ballot within days if May loses the vote on her Brexit deal. His chance of victory is slim, and failure would put him under pressure to back the “very serious”. TVN footage showed Adamowicz on stage just before the attack with a sparkler in hand telling the audience that it had been a “wonderful day” and then the attacker coming towards him. Adamowicz had been on the streets of his city collecting money for the charity, with volunteers around the country.
European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish Prime Minister who co-founded Civil Platform and is from Gdansk, wrote on Twitter: “Let’s all pray for Mayor Adamowicz. Pawel, we are with you”. growing cross-party calls for a second referendum. That, in turn, risks a backlash from the many Labour supporters who voted to leave the EU.
The EU is waiting to see the outcome of tomorrow’s vote — and the margin of the expected defeat — before considering its response, officials said, with some predicting that May will have to delay Brexit. A margin of defeat exceeding about 60 MPS would probably mean the deal is close to death and negotiations are in uncharted waters, EU officials said. A narrower defeat and the bloc may look at fresh ways of making the deal palatable to get it across the line.
The EU was expected to publish a letter today in which the bloc will reiterate that the so-called Irish backstop arrangement, if it is triggered, will only be temporary. But the contents are unlikely to appease Brexiteers who fear Britain will end up being tied to EU trade rules indefinitely.
Adamowicz, 53, has been mayor of the Baltic port city since 1998. He was part of the democratic opposition under the leadership of Lech Walesa during the 1980s. After leaving Civic Platform, he was re-elected to a sixth term as an independent candidate.
As mayor, he has been a progressive voice, supporting LGBT rights and tolerance for minorities. He marched in last year’s gay pride parade. He also showed solidarity with the Jewish community when the city’s synagogue had its windows broken last year.