ZCZC
BFF-37
EU-BRITAIN-BREXIT-DIPLOMACY LEAD
May tours Europe in desperate bid to save Brexit deal
LONDON, Dec 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa
May launched a tour of European capitals on Tuesday in a desperate bid to
salvage her Brexit deal, a day after delaying a parliamentary vote on the
text to avoid a crushing defeat.
May held talks in The Hague with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte before
heading to Berlin to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel as she struggles to unite
British lawmakers behind her faltering plan.
She was then to see EU President Donald Tusk and European Commission chief
Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.
“I’m surprised because we had reached an agreement on the 25th of
November” at the last EU summit, Juncker told the European Parliament in
Strasbourg on Tuesday, dubbing Brexit a “surprise guest” at this week’s
summit.
“The deal we have achieved is the best deal possible, it’s the only deal
possible. There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation but of course there
is room, if used intelligently, to give further clarification and further
interpretations,” he said.
– ‘A political declaration’ –
Tusk said the other 27 EU leaders would discuss Brexit at a special
meeting on Thursday, at the start of a pre-planned summit in Brussels which
May will attend.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told national broadcaster RTE that
Dublin ruled out changes to the wording of the withdrawal agreement but said
there could be “a political declaration coming from a European Council”.
“The Irish government doesn’t have an issue with providing reassurance if
that’s helpful,” he said.
The embattled May is facing a rebellion in her own party and from
parliamentary allies over a clause in the deal relating to Northern Ireland
that is threatening to sink both the agreement and her leadership.
“I will now do everything I possibly can to secure further assurances,”
May told mutinous MPs Monday on her dash to Europe ahead of the EU summit.
If no deal is secured, Britain will still have to leave the EU on March 29
with the government warning a no-deal Brexit will be hugely damaging to the
economy.
Anand Menon, European politics professor at King’s College, London, said
May needed Brussels to make it “absolutely clear” no major concessions are on
offer — no matter who is prime minister.
“What they might do is add some language to the political declaration, not
the withdrawal agreement,” he added.
“I imagine they’ll add some language saying that both sides remain
convinced that we’ll never need to use the backstop”.
– Lawmaker outrage –
MPs had been due to vote on Tuesday on the deal with Brussels, which
covers the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union after 46
years.
But facing a huge rebellion of her own Tory MPs, primarily over the
backstop clause designed to keep open Britain’s border with Ireland, May
conceded she expected to lose and delayed it.
The decision sent the pound plunging and both sides said they would step
up preparations for a no-deal Brexit.
May suffered a barage of scathing headlines on Tuesday, with the Sun
calling her move a “Brexmas Turkey” while the Guardian called it “desperate”.
The right-leaning Daily Telegraph carried the headline “the lady is for
turning”, an uncomplimentary comparison to former leader Margaret Thatcher.
– Government ‘in complete disarray’ –
In a sign of the uproar, an opposition Labour MP was ejected from the
House of Commons after picking up the ceremonial mace in protest at the
government’s conduct.
The mace — a symbol of royal authority required to sit in its place for
parliament to pass laws — was last taken from its place in protest in 2009.
Leader of the House and Tory MP Andrea Leadsom defended May on Tuesday
saying she was aiming to secure “legally-binding reassurances” that Britain
would not be indefinitely stuck in a backstop customs arrangement.
“The EU is always in a position where it negotiates at the last possible
moment,” she told BBC Radio 4.
She said the assurances could take the form of “an addendum”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing calls to table a no-confidence vote
in the prime minister.
“The government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray,”
he said.
But Labour said it would hold off on trying to unseat May for now.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1556 hrs