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May seeks Brexit breakthrough ahead of crucial week
LONDON, April 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Theresa May will on
Monday press ahead with her bid for a Brexit “compromise” with the opposition
despite a backlash from her own party, as she attempts to prevent Britain
crashing out of the European Union this week.
Talks with the Labour Party are expected ahead of a crucial EU summit that
could see Britain leave the bloc as early as Friday, if no further delay is
agreed.
Having failed three times to get her withdrawal deal through parliament,
May has been locked in talks with Labour to find a modified plan that could
command a majority, causing anger within her own party.
“It’ll mean compromise on both sides but I believe that delivering Brexit
is the most important thing for us.
“The longer this takes, the greater the risk of the UK never leaving at
all. It would mean letting the Brexit the British people voted for slip
through our fingers,” she said in a video message released on Sunday.
Labour wants a customs union with Brussels, something May consistently
ruled out as it would prevent Britain striking trade deals with the rest of
the world.
The talks broke down last week, with Corbyn saying “I’m waiting to see the
red lines move”.
But May warned Sunday that “we must deliver Brexit and to do so we must
agree a deal”.
Labour is also facing internal division on the issue, with eighty MPs
writing to Corbyn urging him to secure a guarantee of a second referendum in
any deal.
Leading Brexit supporter Boris Johnson, the favourite to take over once
May leaves, said the prime minister’s talks with veteran leftist Corbyn were
“so disheartening that you can scarcely believe it”.
“It seems utterly incredible that he has now been invited into Downing
Street to negotiate a Brexit deal,” he wrote in his Daily Telegraph column.
“And it is doubly incredible that the government is — so we are told —
willing to accede to his terms.”
– ‘Utter nonsense’ –
May’s deal includes the legally-binding terms of Britain’s withdrawal, and
also a political declaration outlining the principles of a future
relationship.
She has told restive Conservative MPs she will resign before negotiations
on future trade ties begin.
Labour could seek to lock the agreement into law, making it much more
difficult for May’s successor to change strategy.
But Johnson, one of several contenders for her job, said Britain staying
in a customs union, “would make a total and utter nonsense of the referendum
result”.
“It would mean that Slovakia or Lithuania — to say nothing of France or
Germany — would have more say over UK trade policy than London.”
May is hoping to have a deal to present to European leaders at an
emergency summit on Wednesday, where she must secure another Brexit extension
to prevent Britain leaving the bloc at the end of next week with no accord.
She has asked for a delay until June 30, but the decision has to be taken
unanimously by Britain and the remaining EU 27 members.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters at a G7 meeting
in France on Saturday that it was time for the Brexit crisis to end.
“The British authorities and the British parliament need to understand
that (the EU) is not going to be able to constantly exhaust itself with the
ups and downs of domestic British politics,” he said.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said it was “extremely unlikely” a
member would veto another extension and revealed he now favoured a lengthy
delay.
The country’s original March 29 departure date was delayed last month to
April 12.
Britain’s parliament is expected later Monday to approve a bill to force
the government to delay Brexit.
If passed, May will have to bring a motion to parliament on Tuesday,
pledging to request an extension in Brussels the following day and outlining
the length of the planned for delay.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1436 hrs