May fires warning at rebels

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May warned her divided party on Sunday that there may be “no Brexit at all” if they wrecked her plan to forge a close relationship with the European Union after leaving the world’s biggest trading bloc.

“My message to the country this weekend is simple: we need to keep our eyes on the prize,” Ms May wrote on Facebook. “If we don’t, we risk ending up with no Brexit at all.”

Linking the fate of Brexit to her own survival in such an explicit way indicates just how precarious Ms May’s position remains after her government was thrust into crisis and US President Donald Trump publicly criticised her Brexit strategy.

With less than nine months to go before the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, the country, the political elite and business leaders are still deeply divided over whether Brexit should take place and, if so, how.

Ms May doesn’t yet have a Brexit deal with the EU so the British government has stepped up planning for a so-called “no deal” Brexit that could spook financial markets and dislocate trade flows.

In an attempt to forge a balance between those seeking a smooth Brexit and those who fear staying too close to the EU’s orbit would undermine the very nature of Brexit, May sought the approval of senior ministers for her plans on July 6.

After hours of talks at her Chequers country residence she appeared to have won over her cabinet, but just two days later David Davis resigned as Brexit secretary, followed by her foreign minister, Boris Johnson, the next day.

Ms May called yesterday for the country to back her plan for “friction-free movement of goods”, saying it was the only option to avoid undermining the peace in Northern Ireland and preserving the unity of the United Kingdom.