End divisions or put Brexit at risk, Britain's May tells party

[webfact]

End divisions or put Brexit at risk, Britain's May tells party

By Elizabeth Piper, William James and Kylie MacLellan

 

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May walks through the conference centre on the third day of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Britain, October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville

 

BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to her Conservative Party on Wednesday to unite behind her plan to leave the European Union, warning critics their arguments could put Brexit in jeopardy.

 

On the final day of her party's annual conference, May sought to rally members by addressing their concerns that the Conservatives are becoming increasingly directionless under the weight of Brexit, urging them to look to a brighter future.

 

Dancing onto the stage in the city of Birmingham to ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and a standing ovation, May poked fun at herself after her dance moves were mocked on a trip to Africa and after last year's conference when her speech was disrupted by a coughing fit, a stage intruder and a collapsing background set.

 

It was a warm welcome for a leader whose fragile position at the helm of her party has come under further pressure after the EU rejected parts of her so-called Chequers plan and critics stepped up calls for her to ditch her strategy on Brexit, Britain's most far-reaching policy shift for more than 40 years.

 

With just six months before Britain is due to exit the EU, she has so far weathered the Brexit storm, shrugging off a barnstorming speech by her ex-foreign minister Boris Johnson that did little to hide his leadership ambitions.

 

On Wednesday, May was keen to show she was in charge of the Brexit talks.

 

"If we all go off in different directions in pursuit of our own vision of the perfect Brexit, we risk ending up with no Brexit at all," she said, a rebuff to eurosceptic lawmakers who have published their alternatives plan for leaving the EU.

 

"And there's another reason why we need to come together. We are entering the toughest part of the negotiations...If we stick together and hold our nerve, I know we can get a deal that delivers for Britain."

 

She also tried to return to the message she gave when she was appointed prime minister in 2016, promising to help those who feel "left behind" and pledging to end her government's austerity push after nearly a decade of spending cuts.

 

And in another rallying cry for unity, she repeatedly attacked the main opposition Labour Party, saying their policies, including a renationalisation of mail, rail and utilities, would mean increased taxes and business flight.

 

Hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, she said, would "outsource our conscience to the Kremlin".

 

UNITY?

Her words were aimed at easing the growing frustration of some Conservatives who openly say their party is meandering without substantive new ideas, unable to set an agenda amid their divisive feuds over how to depart the EU.

 

The heat she faces from some in the party was underlined less than an hour before her speech when Conservative lawmaker James Duddridge said he had submitted a letter calling on her to resign. Forty-eight such letters are needed to trigger a vote of confidence in the leader.

 

Her spokesman declined to comment on Duddridge's move.

 

But Wednesday's speech seemed to have gone down well among the party faithful.

 

Jeremy Hunt, her foreign minister, said on Twitter: "Congratulations Theresa May for a remarkable speech delivered with humour and passion. Firmness of purpose, clarity and conviction - EU friends do not underestimate!"

 

Pro-Brexit party activist Paul Whitehouse told Reuters: "She did enough to rally the grassroots and that will be momentum enough for cracks to be paved over to a certain extent."

 

Taking a swipe at hardline eurosceptic Johnson, May said she was making decisions on Brexit in the "national interest" - a nod to her argument that her former foreign secretary's alternative Brexit proposals would tear the United Kingdom apart by placing Northern Ireland under EU customs rules and thereby detaching it from the rest of Britain.

 

"It is no surprise that we have had a range of different views expressed this week," May said. "But my job as prime minister is to do what I believe to be in the national interest."

 

With no agreement with the bloc over the terms of divorce or a future trade relationship, the last day of the conference marked the beginning of what some officials predict will be a frenzied couple of weeks of diplomacy between London and Brussels as the two sides try to pin down a deal.

 

May and her team face weeks of difficult conversations with Brussels, especially after Hunt offended some in the bloc by comparing the EU to the old Soviet Union in asserting that the EU was trying to "punish" any member seeking to leave it.

 

"Brexit fans have their backs to the wall," said Franziska Brantner, European affairs spokeswoman for Germany's Greens party. "Blaming the EU won't help them."

 

At home it won't be any easier.

 

May faces challenges from her own party and from the small party propping up her minority government, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which has repeated that it will not accept a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

 

In her speech, May stuck to her plan, but did not call it by its moniker - Chequers - named after the prime ministerial country residence where she hashed out the proposals in July.

 

"So this is our proposal. Taking back control of our borders, laws and money. Good for jobs, good for the Union. It delivers the referendum, it keeps faith with the British people."

 

(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-04

[Esso49]

The only support she has now is probably from her husband.  A total disaster from the time she took over.

[fulhamster]

51 minutes ago, Esso49 said:

The only support she has now is probably from her husband.  A total disaster from the time she took over.

She had little choice, it wouldn't matter who is in charge.

The referendum result is binding and she is obliged to get us out of the EU, whether she personally agrees with it or not.

Perhaps the Brexiteers could detail the fine points about leaving, which they voted for.+

[brewsterbudgen]

I truly hope she's right and the divisions continue, with the result she has promised!

Sent from my SM-G930F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[nabbie]

Everyone deserve the same benefits in UK the same as in EU but I find very, very difficult to believe Tory will achieve that.  

[mfd101]

Well, she's nothing if not steely strong (at least in public). But of course squaring the assorted circles is beyond anyone's capacity ...

[tebee]

She's trying to achieve the impossible, there is no way to get what she hopes to.

 

This could very well split the Tory  party irrevocably.

 

There are only 2 plausible scenarios now, we abandon brexit and remain in the EU or we crash out with no deal into chaos    

[My Thai Life]

5 minutes ago, tebee said:

There are only 2 plausible scenarios now, we abandon brexit and remain in the EU or we crash out with no deal into chaos 

Well option 1 doesn't exist except in the imagination of a few remainers. Option 2 is very unlikely.

 

Some sort of Chequers (won't be called Chequers of course) is a possibility because German industry would prefer it over FTA or no deal.

 

FTA is a possibility, and it's the only option that delivers on the referendum result.

[tebee]

3 minutes ago, My Thai Life said:

Well option 1 doesn't exist except in the imagination of a few remainers. Option 2 is very unlikely.

 

Some sort of Chequers (won't be called Chequers of course) is a possibility because German industry would prefer it over FTA or no deal.

 

FTA is a possibility, and it's the only option that delivers on the referendum result.

 

I don't see how we have got time to negotiate an FTA seeing as how these typically take 5 to 7 years to negotiate .

 

FTA does not solve the problems for either manufacturing or service industries.

 

And in particular it doesn't solve the Northern Ireland problem which will cause us to break international treaties (GFA for a start) and will cause us not to get the transition period we need.  

[Retiredandhappyhere]

1 hour ago, tebee said:

She's trying to achieve the impossible, there is no way to get what she hopes to.

 

This could very well split the Tory  party irrevocably.

 

There are only 2 plausible scenarios now, we abandon brexit and remain in the EU or we crash out with no deal into chaos    

We will end up with a reasonable deal, as it is in the interests of both the UK and the EU to do so.  

[tebee]

1 hour ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

We will end up with a reasonable deal, as it is in the interests of both the UK and the EU to do so.  

 

Oh I wholeheartedly agree with you, it is in the best interest of both sides, however I don't see how we have time left to negotiate that reasonable deal .

 

Also I'm not I'm not entirely sure if any deal, negotiated in a last minute panic, is going to be a "good" deal 

[tebee]

2 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

We will end up with a reasonable deal, as it is in the interests of both the UK and the EU to do so.  

 

interesting  Simon Kuper think there will be a last minute deal too and it will be Brexit in name only.

 

https://www.ft.com/content/dc36f2f2-c697-11e8-ba8f-ee390057b8c9

[dick dasterdly]

8 minutes ago, tebee said:

 

interesting  Simon Kuper think there will be a last minute deal too and it will be Brexit in name only.

 

https://www.ft.com/content/dc36f2f2-c697-11e8-ba8f-ee390057b8c9

In which case I suspect UKIP will re-form, and even more voters will support them.....

 

Now that the whole 'can of worms' has been opened - 'leave in name only' can only be a very short-term solution.

[dunroaming]

4 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

We will end up with a reasonable deal, as it is in the interests of both the UK and the EU to do so.  

I really hope you are right but at the moment what the EU believe is a reasonable deal is not what the UK feel is a reasonable deal.  Who will give on this?  Alas I think it has to be the UK which means that May and Co will not deliver the Brexit they promised.

[7by7]

15 hours ago, fulhamster said:

Perhaps the Brexiteers could detail the fine points about leaving, which they voted for

From what I have read both here and elsewhere, the average Brexiteer wants all the benefits of EU membership with none of the responsibilities.

 

It's like saying to a gym that they don't want to be a member or pay a subscription anymore, but still expect to be able to turn up whenever they want to use the equipment for free.

 

We chose to leave; there is no reason for the EU to concede anything, to give us anything: unless they see a benefit for the EU as well as the UK.

 

When all this is pointed out to the average Brexiteer they blame the EU for being intransigent, May for being incompetent, or both!

 

 

 

 

[AlexRich]

I read that the new idea is to remain in the Customs Union as a new free trade deal is negotiated ... that seems sensible, Ireland apparently back it and I'm sure businesses would be relieved. It won't satisfy Brexiteer's who seem to want to crash out whatever the economic pain.