Britain's May hails new optimism in Brexit talks after deal

[webfact]

Britain's May hails new optimism in Brexit talks after deal

By Elizabeth Piper

 

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at a news conference at the EC headquarters in Brussels, Belgium December 8, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will hail "a new sense of optimism" in Brexit talks on Monday, telling parliament Britain and the European Union should sign off on a deal at a summit this week "to move forwards together" to discuss future trade ties.

 

May, weakened after losing her Conservatives' parliamentary majority at a June election, emerged triumphant last week after rescuing an agreement to move the negotiations to unravel more than 40 years of union on to their second phase.

 

But the discussion of Britain's trade relationship with the EU after Brexit contains many pitfalls and could widen differences among her top team of ministers, or cabinet, over how Britain should look after it leaves the bloc.

 

May will hold a cabinet meeting on Monday.

 

In a statement to parliament, May will take to task those who doubted that she could move the talks beyond the initial stage of agreeing terms on how much Britain should pay, citizens' rights and the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

 

"I have always been clear that this was never going to be an easy process. It has required give and take for the UK and the EU to move forwards together. And that is what we have done," she will say, according to extracts provided by her office.

 

"Of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

 

"But there is, I believe, a new sense of optimism now in the talks and I fully hope and expect that we will confirm the arrangements I have set out today in the European Council later this week."

 

May will head to Brussels on Thursday for a summit meeting at which she expects the leaders of the other 27 EU states to approve an assessment by negotiators that the sides have made "sufficient progress" to move on to phase two.

 

TROUBLES AHEAD

 

The deal to launch further talks looked in jeopardy a week ago when May was forced to abandon a choreographed meeting in Brussels intended to seal the deal after her allies in Northern Ireland expressed fears she was proposing a special status for the region -- out of sync with the rest of the United Kingdom.

 

After days of diplomacy, there was a compromise -- if no overall Brexit deal is secured, Britain will keep "full alignment" with those rules of the EU's single market that help cooperation between Ireland's north and south.

 

But those words have reverberated in both London and Belfast, with Brexit minister David Davis saying they were more "a statement of intent" than a legally binding move.

 

The Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which props up May's Conservative minority government in parliament, has said it is still concerned about how alignment could work without Britain staying in the EU's single market and customs union. 

 

For some campaigners for Britain to leave the EU, the possibility of having to follow the bloc's rules meant that they could have Brexit in name only. 

 

But May will say the commitments made in the first round of talks -- which includes a payment of 35-39 billion pounds over many years to meet EU obligations -- were necessary to sever ties with the bloc.

 

"In doing so we can move on to building the bold new economic and security relationships that can underpin the new deep and special partnership we all want to see," she will say.

 

"A partnership between the European Union and a sovereign United Kingdom that has taken control of its borders, money and laws once again."

 

(1 British pound = 1.1376 euros)

 

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Catherine Evans)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-11

[PETERTHEEATER]

"........for the UK and the EU to move forwards together. And that is what we have done," she will say..

 

 Hail Mary!....er, Hail May?

[RuamRudy]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

"A partnership between the European Union and a sovereign United Kingdom that has taken control of its borders, money and laws once again."

 

Is this nonsense still fooling people?

[mfd101]

Is that a grimace in the photo? or is she about to burst into song?

 

"Of course we have given away quite a lot more than we received on two of the three issues. And on Ireland we have agreed not to settle anything at this stage because it's too hard and there is in fact no doable solution. So all round this is a GREAT day for GREAT Britain and a WONDERFUL triumph of my Prime Ministership."

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, RuamRudy said:

Is this nonsense still fooling people?

No, at least not many.

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister Theresa May will hail "a new sense of optimism" in Brexit talks on Monday, telling parliament Britain and the European Union should sign off on a deal at a summit this week "to move forwards together" to discuss future trade ties.

A new sense of optimism.  Exactly what has she negotiated to be optimistic about?  Both leavers and remainers have been let down so far.

[John1012]

The sooner this despicable appeasing  May creature is dispensed with and replaced by some one who actually believes in respecting the democratically arrived at result of the referendum the sooner GB can withdraw from the EU, return to WTO rules and start back on the path of prosperity. The EU is a corrupt socialist dictatorship, never had a clean audit in it's existence, trying to eliminate the individual nation states, with all their history and culture, in order to create a one size fits all super state... rather like the USSR was at it's inception. It is failing, being destroyed internally by the Islamic invasion it has encouraged, as various nations are rejecting immigration diktats from the commissars in Brussels.

[dunroaming]

11 minutes ago, John1012 said:

The sooner this despicable appeasing  May creature is dispensed with and replaced by some one who actually believes in respecting the democratically arrived at result of the referendum the sooner GB can withdraw from the EU, return to WTO rules and start back on the path of prosperity. The EU is a corrupt socialist dictatorship, never had a clean audit in it's existence, trying to eliminate the individual nation states, with all their history and culture, in order to create a one size fits all super state... rather like the USSR was at it's inception. It is failing, being destroyed internally by the Islamic invasion it has encouraged, as various nations are rejecting immigration diktats from the commissars in Brussels.

Thanks for the rant .  Who do you think should replace May?

[Srikcir]

May is UK's best hope for a timely soft Brexit and access to the EU single market.

I think the EU was surprised at her success thus far and probably a smooth transition out of EU.

The security of the UK and EU depend on it.

[dogpatch55]

If May is the UK"s best hope then we are all doomed in the UK!

[lungbing]

She should have been waving a piece of paper and claiming 'peace in our time'.

[nontabury]

[Grouse]

28 minutes ago, nontabury said:

Hooray! Happy Christmas one and all! ?

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, nontabury said:

Don't blame May too much.  The real villains here are Johnson, Gove/Fox, Farage and then Cameron.

 

First it was Farage lying about immigration and rallying the racists, then Cameron for not standing his ground and calling for the stupid referendum.  Then Johnson sees an opportunity to oust his "mate" Dave and with his dim witted chums Gove and Fox decided to go for the chalice of doom.  Once they had it and realised that Brexit was going to poison the chalice they all backed away and gave it to the ambitious Theresa May.  We have all been the pawns in this.

[ilostmypassword]

It's not just the Irish who are going to be problematic:

Global powers lobby to stop special Brexit deal for UK

Theresa May’s hopes of securing a unique post-Brexit trade deal with the EU were under threat on Saturday night as Brussels said it was coming under international pressure to deny Britain special treatment.

After a week that saw May reach a deal with the EU that will allow Brexit talks to move forward on to future trade relations, EU officials insisted a bespoke deal more favourable to the UK than other non-EU nations was out of the question.

One EU source close to the talks said: “We have been approached by a number of [non-member] countries expressing concerns and making it clear that it would constitute a major problem for them if suddenly the UK were to get better terms than they get.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/09/global-powers-lobby-to-stop-special-brexit-deal-for-uk

[Baerboxer]

8 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

It's not just the Irish who are going to be problematic:

Global powers lobby to stop special Brexit deal for UK

Theresa May’s hopes of securing a unique post-Brexit trade deal with the EU were under threat on Saturday night as Brussels said it was coming under international pressure to deny Britain special treatment.

After a week that saw May reach a deal with the EU that will allow Brexit talks to move forward on to future trade relations, EU officials insisted a bespoke deal more favourable to the UK than other non-EU nations was out of the question.

One EU source close to the talks said: “We have been approached by a number of [non-member] countries expressing concerns and making it clear that it would constitute a major problem for them if suddenly the UK were to get better terms than they get.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/09/global-powers-lobby-to-stop-special-brexit-deal-for-uk

 

Can't blame them for that.

 

But the clever old boys in Brussels won't miss a chance. The UK's paying billions for the privilege so step up you others. You can buy a better deal anytime you want. Just ask and get a price quoted!

[ballpoint]

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

Hooray! Happy Christmas one and all! ?

Baah. Humbug!

[John1012]

On 12/11/2017 at 6:14 PM, dunroaming said:

Thanks for the rant .  Who do you think should replace May?

Jacod Rees-Mogg or Gavin Williamson.

[RuamRudy]

On 12/11/2017 at 7:00 PM, John1012 said:

The sooner this despicable appeasing  May creature is dispensed with and replaced by some one who actually believes in respecting the democratically arrived at result of the referendum the sooner GB can withdraw from the EU, return to WTO rules and start back on the path of prosperity. The EU is a corrupt socialist dictatorship, never had a clean audit in it's existence, trying to eliminate the individual nation states, with all their history and culture, in order to create a one size fits all super state... rather like the USSR was at it's inception. It is failing, being destroyed internally by the Islamic invasion it has encouraged, as various nations are rejecting immigration diktats from the commissars in Brussels.

To be fair, just about all the above can be leveled at successive Westminster governments, our current one most of all  - apart of course, the socialist part. It always amazes and frustrates me in equal measures when people cry about socialism as if it spells the end of civilisation as we know it, all the while keeping quiet while our current government is doing its utmost to transfer wealth from the many to the few. 

 

In a few years time, when we look back at the former United Kingdom, the gross government-sponsored inequalities will be recognised as being a significant factor in the break-up of this septic country.