Brexit could be derailed, May warns

BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May warned yesterday that Britain’s planned exit from the EU could be derailed, a last-ditch effort to win over Brexit-supporting MPs who have repeatedly said they will vote down her divorce deal.

The fate of the UK’s March 29 exit from the EU is deeply uncertain as parliament is likely to reject May’s deal this evening, opening up outcomes ranging from a disorderly divorce to reversing Brexit altogether.

Amid the deepest crisis in British politics for at least half a century, May and EU leaders exchanged letters giving assurances on her withdrawal agreement, though there was little sign of a change of heart among rebel MPs .

May used a speech at a china factory in the leave-supporting city of Stoke-on-Trent in central England to say that MPs blocking Brexit altogether was now a more likely outcome than Britain leaving without a deal.

“There are some in Westminster who would wish to delay or even stop Brexit and who will use every device available to them to do so,” May said.

“While no-deal remains a serious risk, having observed the events at Westminster over the last seven days, it’s now my judgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no Brexit.”

As the world’s biggest trading bloc tried to brace for an unpredictable ride, Spain said the EU could agree to extend the deadline for Brexit, but not beyond elections for the European Parliament due in May.

As part of the effort to get the deal approved by the British parliament, the EU and May set out some assurances in a choreographed exchange of letters yesterday.

The EU told May that it stood by commitments to find ways to avoid triggering the controversial “Irish backstop” in their Brexit deal and that this pledge had legal weight. However, even if the target date was not met, they wrote, Britain would have the option to extend a status-quo transition period to avoid triggering the backstop, which is meant to avoid a hard customs border for Northern Ireland.

May said the assurances might not go far enough for some MPs and the small Northern Irish party that props up her government said it was insufficient. | Reuters | Reuters