Agreeing a Brexit deal with the European Union may have been the easy part for British Prime Minister Theresa May. Getting it through a divided parliament at home could be an altogether tougher battle.
Theresa May has said she is not sad about leaving the EU, after a string of the bloc’s leaders gave emotional goodbyes to Britain. The prime minister met with EU leaders on Sunday in Brussels for the final sign-off her Brexit deal, which was described by one senior EU official as “dignified, solemn, measured, composed”. Asked whether she shared the views of people like European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker who had branded today a “sad day”, the prime minister said: “No: but I recognise that others do; I recognise that some European leaders are sad at this moment.” She added that she understood that some in the UK would also be sad.
Earlier, in a joint Press Conference with Donald Tusk and Michel Barnier, JeanClaude Juncker reaffirmed this is a very sad day. “It is not a day for raising champagne glasses.” Everyone who spoke today spoke of their sadness. He added that this view is broadly shared, if not unanimously shared, stressing that the unity of the 27 has been maintained, despite the pressure, some of it from the UK. In a message directed towards British MPs, Juncker said this is the “best deal possible”, and “the only deal possible”.
Tusk stated the outcome of the European council endorsed the withdrawal agreement adding that regardless of how it all ends, one thing is certain – we will remain friends until the end of days, and one day longer.
Here are some pertinent observations on what’s next :
Financial Times : “There is an infallible way to identify politicians and commentators who have not read Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty. What gives their game away is the complacent and mistaken assertion that a no-deal Brexit is impossible on the grounds there is no majority for it in the House of Commons. The reality is that a campaign to undo the 2016 referendum is virtually impossible without the explicit support of the government. When British cabinet ministers resigned hours after the publication of the withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU, they could not conceivably have read it, let alone digested its finer points. Many of the MPs who denounced the much shorter political declaration did not read that either. If they had done so, they might have discovered that this is actually not such a bad deal at all. There can be no deal with the EU based on the opposition Labour party’s six tests. You cannot be in a customs union with full immigration control. Nor could there be a deal without an Irish backstop. The UK could have chosen different post-Brexit relationships: a full customs union, or the often misunderstood Norway model, which guarantees access to the single market together with membership of the European Free Trade Association. But the UK parliament decided on this particular version of Brexit when it agreed the European Union (Withdrawal) Act, which repeals the 1972 European Communities Act and requires the UK government to ensure the continuation of north-south co-operation on the island of Ireland.”
The Guardian: The odds of Theresa May getting her Brexit deal through parliament are “looking challenging”, Jeremy Hunt has said, adding that it was possible the government could collapse if this failed to happen. Speaking as the prime minister was in Brussels, where EU leaders agreed the Brexit plan, the foreign secretary declined to predict whether the proposals would make the UK better off, saying only that it “mitigates most of the negative impacts” of leaving the EU. I think the truth is there are compromises in this deal,” he said. “But my colleagues in the House of Commons will be looking at this and they will say, we have got between 70% and 80% of what we want, and the question is: can this be a staging post to getting 100% of what we want, particularly being an independent trading nation, a sovereign Britain ploughing our furrow in the world?”
Reuters reports : May is likely to focus much of her attention on winning over lawmakers who occupy the middle ground in her Conservative Party – as well as in the Labour opposition, whose leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has urged them to vote against the deal. Her chances of turning hardliners in either the pro-EU or pro-Brexit camp are slim but she could still try by offering sweeteners such as government posts, backing for lawmakers’ favorite causes or help for their voting districts.
For now, the odds look stacked against her with criticism of the deal approved in Brussels on Sunday from all sides, including the Northern Irish party propping up her minority government. But May still has a few tricks up her sleeve. She has already set loose her party enforcers known as “whips” who will use their powers of persuasion to ensure she has as much backing as possible in the make-or-break vote, likely in the next few weeks. May and the whips will play on lawmakers’ fears for their careers if they oppose the withdrawal agreement and are then blamed by voters for the economic chaos that companies and banks say will follow if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal.”
The Telegraph: Theresa May confidently asserted after meeting EU leaders in Brussels on Sunday that she “will make the case for this deal with all my heart” to persuade MPs to back it. Number 10 sources made clear that MPs will vote on the deal in the week commencing Monday December 10. But with 93 Conservative MPs saying they will oppose it, the Prime Minister will have to look at alternatives to get her deal through the Commons. Here The Telegraph looks at three ways Mrs May might try to get the deal through the Commons – and the three things which could happen if she does not.
- Amend the Withdrawal Agreement
- Court her opponents
- Promise a second referendum
And what might Mrs May do if she loses the vote?
- Try again, ask for more concessions, or go for no deal
- Call a general election
- Resign
MaltaToday : The EU summit on Brexit is over, but Theresa May’s Sisyphean task is not yet over. The going is still tricky for British prime minister Theresa May, who takes the deal to a House that remains divided on leaving the EU, including her own vehement Tory Brexiteers: former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the UK would become a “satellite state” under the deal. The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 following a referendum in which 51.9% voted to leave the EU. But even if the EU approves the deal, it still has to be passed by the UK Parliament, with many MPs having stated their opposition.
