The Manila Times

May seeks changes in Brexit deal, postpones vote

- AP

LONDON: Facing almost certain defeat, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) postponed a vote in Parliament on her Brexit deal, saying she would go back to European Union leaders to seek changes to the divorce agreement.

May’s move threw Britain’s Brexit plans into disarray, intensi-

- cials adamant the withdrawal deal was not up for renegotiat­ion, the country does not know on what terms it will leave — and whether May will still be Britain’s leader when it does.

In an emergency statement to the House of Commons, May accepted that the divorce deal she struck last month with EU leaders was likely to be rejected “by a sig-

held Tuesday as planned.

May said she would defer the vote so she could seek “assurances” from the EU and bring the deal back to Parliament. She did not set a new date for the vote. The United Kingdom’s departure is supposed to take place on March 29.

Opposition lawmakers — and ones from May’s Conservati­ve Party — were incredulou­s and angry. Some accused her of trampling on parliament­ary democracy.

“The government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray,” Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said.

Corbyn demanded, and was granted, an emergency debate Tuesday on the postponeme­nt. But Labour lawmaker Lloyd Russell-Moyle was expelled from Parliament for the day after he grabbed the House of Commons’ ceremonial mace as a sign of protest.

The centuries-old gilded staff is the symbol of royal authority. Without it, the Commons can’t meet or pass laws.

Jacob Rees- Mogg, a leading pro-Brexit Conservati­ve, expressed despair at the Brexit shambles.

“It’s not really governing,” he said. “It’s just an awful muddle.”

Monday’s turmoil sent the pound to a 20-month low against the dollar of $1.2550.

It was a new blow for May, who became prime minister after Britain’s 2016 referendum decision to leave the EU. She has been battling

deal with the bloc, then to sell it to skeptical British lawmakers.

May insisted the agreement hammered out with the EU after a year and a half of negotiatio­ns was “the best deal that is negotiable.” But it has been scorned by lawmakers on all sides of Britain’s debate about Europe.

Derisive laughter erupted in the House of Commons when May claimed there was “broad support” for many aspects of the deal.

Pro- Brexit lawmakers say the deal keeps Britain bound too closely to the EU, while pro-EU politician­s say it erects barriers between the UK and its biggest trading partner and leaves many details of the future relationsh­ip undecided.

The main sticking point is a “backstop” provision that aims to guarantee an open border between EU member Ireland and the UK’s Northern Ireland after Brexit. The measure would keep Britain under EU customs rules, and is supposed to last until it is superseded by permanent new trade arrangemen­ts.

Critics say it could leave Britain

to strike new trade deals around the world.

May said she would hold talks with EU leaders ahead of a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, seeking “further reassuranc­es” over the backstop.

“Nothing should be off the table,” she said.

EU leaders signaled they are prepared to help Britain, up to a point, but insisted the Brexit agreement could not be changed.

“The deal is the deal,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said. “It’s taken two years to put together. It’s a fair deal for both sides.”

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