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Trump trips up May as she bids to sell Brexit deal
LONDON, Nov 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump warned the
Brexit deal could undermine UK-US trade just as the British prime minister
launched a nationwide tour to whip up support Tuesday for an agreement that
has divided Britain.
Theresa May headed to Wales and Northern Ireland, hours after Trump said
it seemed like a “great deal” for the EU that could block Britain from
striking its own trade agreement with the United States.
May has two weeks to convince the public, and, crucially, a divided
parliament, before a vote in the House of Commons on December 11 that risks
ending in a humiliating defeat and sinking the deal.
Trump warned that the terms of the deal might block a future trade deal
between London and Washington and suggested May had made a mistake.
“Sounds like a great deal for the EU,” he said at the White House, adding:
“we have to take a look at seriously whether or not the UK is allowed to
trade”.
“As the deal stands, they may not be able to trade with the US and I don’t
think they want that at all. That would be a very big negative for the deal,”
said the president, who is close to leading Brexiteers in the UK.
“I don’t think that the prime minister meant that and hopefully she’ll be
able to do something about that.” – Downing Street strikes back –
May’s Downing Street office hit back at Trump’s comments, saying that
Britain would be free to strike its own trade agreements outside the bloc.
“We will have an independent trade policy so that the UK can sign trade
deals with countries around the world — including with the United States,” a
spokesman said.
“We have already been laying the groundwork for an ambitious agreement
with the US.”
The pound was down almost half a percent against the dollar and lower also
against the euro in the wake of Trump’s comments. London’s FTSE 100 shares
index was up 0.1 percent.
MORE/SSS/1619 hrs
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May on Sunday closed 17 months of complex talks with Brussels by sealing
Brexit arrangements with the 27 other EU heads of state and government.
But this tortuous chapter on ending Britain’s 45-year involvement in the
European project was just the beginning.
May runs a minority Conservative government and opposition parties, not to
mention many of her own MPs, are against the deal.
Some Brexiteers think it keeps Britain shackled to Brussels while pro-EU
lawmakers think the terms are worse than staying in the bloc and want a
second referendum.
Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn called the deal “an act of
national self-harm”.
– TV face-off –
May, who ducked televised debates during the 2017 snap general election,
challenged Corbyn to a TV contest, nominally planned for December 9.
“I am ready to debate it with Jeremy Corbyn because I have got a plan. He
hasn’t got a plan,” May was quoted as saying by The Sun newspaper.
A Labour spokesman said: “Jeremy would relish a head to head debate with
Theresa May about her botched Brexit deal and the future of our country.”
When May defended the deal in parliament on Monday, more than an hour
passed before a Conservative voiced support for the agreement.
In a sign of the difficulties facing May, former defence secretary Michael
Fallon, once an ultra-loyalist, said Tuesday that the deal gave Britain “the
worst of all worlds” and vowed to vote against it on December 11.
He said “the deal is doomed” unless MPs can “be persuaded somehow” that it
guarantees the ability to reduce tariffs and strike trade deals with
countries outside the EU.
“If it’s possible to get a better deal” by postponing Brexit for three
months, “in the long term that would be in the best interest of the country”,
said Fallon.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1620 hrs