EU to May: No room for renegotiation
Brexit deal will return to MPs for vote before January 21
Prime Minister Theresa May sought Angela Merkel’s support yesterday to save her floundering Brexit deal but the European Union ruled out renegotiating the divorce treaty, after May postponed a parliamentary vote she admitted she would lose.
Less than four months until the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29, May warned British lawmakers that if they rejected her deal then the only other options were a disorderly no-deal divorce, or a reversal of Brexit that would defy the will of those who voted for it.
A day after pulling the vote in the face of hostility from lawmakers, May rushed from London for breakfast in The Hague with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and then a meeting in Berlin with Europe’s most powerful leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a frantic bid to save her deal. The message from the EU was clear: It will give “clarifications” but will not countenance reopening the treaty.
“The deal we achieved is the best possible. It’s the only deal possible. There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation,” European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said in an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
In rainy Berlin, a hitch with May’s car door briefly trapped her inside, delaying her red carpet handshake with Merkel.
The British parliament will vote on a deal before January 21, May’s spokeswoman said. If there is no satisfactory deal by then, parliament will still be given a debate on the issue.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and the European Union should begin planning for a second Brexit referendum because parliament cannot agree on a divorce deal and voters will be asked to break the deadlock, opposition lawmakers said.
Less than four months until the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, Brexit was plunged into chaos on Monday when May accepted that British lawmakers would not accept her deal and withdrew a key vote on it.
The ultimate outcome of Brexit is now uncertain. Possible scenarios include May’s deal ultimately winning approval in a new parliamentary vote; May losing her job; Britain leaving the bloc with no deal or another referendum. “The UK is in the middle of a constitutional crisis, which is unparalleled in modern history,” said Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster.
“There now appears to be scant potential for consensus to be found.” May has repeatedly said that British lawmakers face a choice of approving her deal or facing an exit with no deal or even the reversal of Brexit.
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said the government must ask the Electoral Commission, the independent body which oversees referendums, to begin looking at what question might be asked and when another vote ■ could be held. A new vote, Cable said, must ask whether voters wanted a Brexit deal or to stay in the EU. He said a “no deal” exit should not be one of the options.
“You prepare for what might happen rather than what you want to happen,” he said.
His comments were echoed by Blackford, the Green Party, the Welsh nationalist party, the Labour Party’s Margaret Beckett and the Conservative lawmaker Anna Soubry.
Bookmakers are offering almost an even chance of another EU referendum before 2020.
An array of smaller parties including the SNP and the Liberal Democrats said European leaders should prepare by agreeing to allow an extension of Britain’s Article 50 departure notification.
Ultimatum
Blackford also issued the opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with an ultimatum to call a vote of no-confidence in the government or they would attempt to do so without them.
“This is a government that is in chaos and crisis and that is why I would appeal to Jeremy we have no option,” he said.
“We cannot delay and if Jeremy does not accept that responsibility then I am afraid the rest of us will have to accept that responsibility.” On Monday the speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow said that while smaller parties could table a no-confidence motion, it was usually only put forward for a debate and vote if it came from the main opposition party.
Meanwhile, German leader Angela Merkel ruled out further negotiations on Brexit yesterday but said efforts were being made to give Britain reassurances after May abruptly pulled a parliamentary vote at home because she faced defeat.