Brexit camps limbering up for round two
LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May’s success in getting through the first phase of Brexit negotiations has only intensified plotting by both the Remain and Leave wings of her Conservative Party.
The prime minister may have hoped for a respite following the agreement with the European Union reached yesterday, but she faces immediate clashes in the two weeks before Christmas over the withdrawal bill.
Some key Brexiteers, including Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Priti Patel, three of the leading faces of Vote Leave, gave their seal of approval to the deal. However, a number of Leave campaigners suggested May had gone further than she needed to.
Brexiteers put May on notice that she would face more concerted pressure in phase two of the negotiations, having agreed earlier this week that they would not seek to block any agreement GETTY IMAGES at this stage.
Conservative Remain supporters switched their focus to the length of the transition period. Some want to keep open the option of extending the two-year transition if the full deal is not ready in time.
The deadlocked Brexit talks faced an unofficial deadline yesterday or risked being derailed ahead of a summit in Brussels next week that will seek to lock in the terms of Britain’s EU withdrawal fee, the status of Irish borders, and the rights of citizens affected by Brexit.
Yesterday’s agreement paves the way for negotiations on the trade deal between Britain and the bloc after the divorce.
May said Brexit would guarantee the rights of 3 million EU citizens living in the UK and 1 million Britons living in other EU countries. She also said there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a politically sensitive issue that threatened to delay the talks.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the agreement was a step in the right direction, adding that ‘‘this is not the end but it is the end of the beginning’’.
Britain previously signalled that it was prepared to more than double the amount it was willing to pay the EU to honour its existing budget commitments – as much as 57 billion.
Donald Tusk, president of the European Council of EU leaders, said the negotiators had informed him that ‘‘sufficient progress has been made’’.
‘‘This allows me to present the draft guidelines for the December European Council, which I have just sent to the leaders,’’ he said.
Tusk said he proposed that Britain and the EU now start negotiating the terms and duration of the UK’s transition period, ‘‘so that people and businesses have clarity’’.
Britain wants a two-year transition period, during which it wants to remain part of the EU trade bloc. The Times, USA Today