Theresa May gains two weeks' Brexit reprieve from British lawmakers

[webfact]

Theresa May gains two weeks' Brexit reprieve from British lawmakers

By Kylie MacLellan, William James and Elizabeth Piper

 

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May won a two week reprieve on Wednesday from British lawmakers, who postponed a threatened rebellion aimed at blocking a no-deal Brexit after she agreed to a possible delay to Britain's departure from the EU.

 

But the opposition Labour Party announced it would now support a new public vote on Brexit, the first time since Britain voted in 2016 to leave the EU that one of its main parties has backed giving voters a chance to change their minds.

 

After months of saying that Britain must leave the EU on time on March 29, May opened up the possibility on Tuesday of a short limited extension to the exit date.

 

That was enough to avert a showdown in parliament on Wednesday with lawmakers -- including ministers in her own government who had said they were prepared to join a rebellion this week to avert an exit with no agreement.

 

May's climbdown took much of the heat out of a series of votes on Wednesday that could have ripped control of the entire process away from the government.

 

In the end, lawmakers backed her promised timetable. But it now means British citizens and businesses will not learn how, or possibly even whether, they are to leave the European Union until the final weeks or even days before the deadline.

 

After a deal she negotiated with European leaders was rejected on Jan. 15 in the biggest parliamentary defeat in modern British history, May is hoping to bring back a tweaked divorce accord for a vote, which could come as early as next week but may not take place until March 12.

 

May has now promised that if her deal is voted down, lawmakers will get a chance to vote on whether to leave with no deal, or to ask the European Union to delay the deadline.

 

Lawmakers voted 502-20 in support of an amendment proposed by opposition Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper that spelled out May's proposed timetable. The government backed the amendment.

 

Before May's concessions on Tuesday, Cooper had been assembling support from all parties for an amendment that would have ensured parliament had a chance to block a no-deal exit and seek a delay.

 

Wednesday's votes also saw lawmakers defeat a Labour proposal for a permanent customs union with the EU.

 

While that was widely expected, Labour had said this week that its failure would be the trigger for the main opposition party to pledge its support for a new referendum.

 

"Disappointed the government has rejected Labour’s alternative Brexit deal," Labour's Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, said. "That’s why Labour will put forward or support an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit."

 

Lawmakers also rejected a proposal on Wednesday by the Scottish National Party calling for no-deal Brexit to be ruled out under any circumstances. Most lawmakers oppose a no-deal exit, but May's promise to allow a vote on that after the vote on her deal was enough to persuade many not to intervene yet.

 

Another measure, calling on the government to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the event of a no-deal exit, was also passed with government support.

 

MACRON SAYS DELAY NOT AUTOMATIC

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that the EU would agree to extend the Brexit deadline beyond March 29 only if Britain justified such a request with a clear objective.

 

"If the British need more time, we would support an extension request if it was justified by new choices from the British," Macron told a joint briefing with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris. "But we would in no way accept an extension without a clear view on the objective pursued."

 

French officials have said Paris would agree to delay Brexit only if that came with a credible solution, for example if Britain called an election, held a second referendum, or presented a new plan that was acceptable to all sides but needed more time to be finalised.

 

Merkel said she was "totally on the same line" as Macron but appeared more willing to show flexibility.

 

"If Britain needs some more time, we won't refuse but we are striving for an orderly solution i.e. an orderly exit of Britain from the European Union," she said.

 

The big shifts on Brexit by both May and Labour this week reflect turmoil within both major parties as the Brexit deadline approaches. Eight Labour lawmakers and three Conservatives quit their parties last week to set up a new anti-Brexit group, the biggest such schism in British politics for decades. Lawmakers in both parties have threatened further defections.

 

(Additional reporting by Michelle Martin in Berlin; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Peter Graff)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-28

[Laughing Gravy]

I was shocked after reading this article. Theresa the appeaser is changing her mind again. Who would have thought.

 

I suppose once a remainer always a remainer.

 

[soalbundy]

11 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

I was shocked after reading this article. Theresa the appeaser is changing her mind again. Who would have thought.

 

I suppose once a remainer always a remainer.

 

Is she that clever? Put on a new series of 'Love Island' and do a Breturn, nobody on "our island home" would notice.

[steve187]

i think that the UK has lost its way, the mp's do not care for their constituents one iota, they are there purely for themselves only, the 2 party politics has had its day, people switching parties at a whim, without calling a by election just prove my point above, i voted leave and fully appreciate that as this farce has dragged on, we should cancel brexit, the whole thing has been mishandled and i blame Cameron, he instigated it and then did a runner.

 

get a fresh outlook on the whole system of the EU being a super state without finances to back it up, get rid of some of the smaller no money and never will countries.

 

let the UK recover from this mess and try and reorganise the EU from within, but plan for a future outside the EU as it will collapse at some time, the EU leader are just bully boys and like the power they have, all the leaders should be replaced. its a corrupt system and we should never have got that deep in the quicksand.

[DoctorG]

shambolic

[Chomper Higgot]

30 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

shambolic

That’s what happens when you start out without even a hint of a plan.

[SOTIRIOS]

...keeping the country hostage for so long....

 

...unbelievable.....

 

...and pathetic....

[Grouse]

Poor Reuters article with weak analysis. And stop using that awful Americanism "lawmakers". Peasants 

 

1) May relented(a bit) to enable applying for an extension IF her crap deal is voted down AND parliament votes against leaving with no deal.

 

2) Cooper's amendment made this binding. Good; nobody trusts May. 

 

3) Corbyn has been dragged to support a second referendum. Good. But he insists a GE and soft Brexit are still on his magical bedside table. Why can't the old fool show leadership? Just once! As a result, some weak (and stupid) and self preserving Labour MPs will defy a Labour whip and vote against another referendum. If they do, they should have the whip removed.

 

4) Meanwhile the EU will only grant an extension if there is good reason.

 

5) For me, best way forward is to reopen the deal with no red lines and begin sensible discussions. If that takes a year, who cares.

[FarangDoingHisThing69]

Just leave already. Spare us the pain of constantly hearing rehashed arguments over it!


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[evadgib]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

That’s what happens when you start out without even a hint of a plan.

The plan was pretty clear from the onset. What wasn't clear was how far the losers would stoop in order to scupper the outcome afterwards despite repeatedly pledging to the contrary. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by evadgib

[Srikcir]

When Mays loses, she just keeps winning.

She becomes the only stabilized figure in government.

Can't say the same for Parliament - whatever the party.

[sawadee1947]

Ongoing Muppet show

[tebee]

3 hours ago, steve187 said:

i think that the UK has lost its way, the mp's do not care for their constituents one iota, they are there purely for themselves only, the 2 party politics has had its day, people switching parties at a whim, without calling a by election just prove my point above, i voted leave and fully appreciate that as this farce has dragged on, we should cancel brexit, the whole thing has been mishandled and i blame Cameron, he instigated it and then did a runner.

 

get a fresh outlook on the whole system of the EU being a super state without finances to back it up, get rid of some of the smaller no money and never will countries.

 

let the UK recover from this mess and try and reorganise the EU from within, but plan for a future outside the EU as it will collapse at some time, the EU leader are just bully boys and like the power they have, all the leaders should be replaced. its a corrupt system and we should never have got that deep in the quicksand.

Can I just say that even if I was an ardent brexiter I wouldn't want any brexit delivered by the current bunch of incompetent charlatans. The have no idea what they are doing, do not understand the situation and could not have done more damage to Britain's international reputation if they'd gone to the EU parliament in clown shoes and makeup and started slapping Merkel's face with wet fish.

 

They seem determined to deliver a brexit which combines all the disadvantages of EU membership with all the disadvantages of non-membership. Only thing it seems to satisfy is May's hatred of foreigners.

 

They have been playing to the gallery all along and wiping up patriotic frenzy when they should have been trying to workout how to implement brexit in some sort of decent way. Now the chickens have come home to roost and we've run out of time without a plan.    

[melvinmelvin]

2 hours ago, Grouse said:

Poor Reuters article with weak analysis. And stop using that awful Americanism "lawmakers". Peasants 

 

1) May relented(a bit) to enable applying for an extension IF her crap deal is voted down AND parliament votes against leaving with no deal.

 

2) Cooper's amendment made this binding. Good; nobody trusts May. 

 

3) Corbyn has been dragged to support a second referendum. Good. But he insists a GE and soft Brexit are still on his magical bedside table. Why can't the old fool show leadership? Just once! As a result, some weak (and stupid) and self preserving Labour MPs will defy a Labour whip and vote against another referendum. If they do, they should have the whip removed.

 

4) Meanwhile the EU will only grant an extension if there is good reason.

 

5) For me, best way forward is to reopen the deal with no red lines and begin sensible discussions. If that takes a year, who cares.

5)

is the option with the highest potential (at least in theory)

would it be sound to embark on such with the same PM?

 

let's say that the UK goes for 5),

then, what to do if it becomes obvious that the talks are as non productive and one sided

and meaningless as the first round?

an immediate no-deal Brexit?

 

there should be some safeguards somewhere

 

[welovesundaysatspace]

I wouldn’t be surprised if the following happened next:

 

1. May postpones the meaningful vote again. 

2. MPs vote down May’s deal. 

3. MPs vote down no-deal. 

4. MPs vote down an extension of A50. 

5. May travels through Europe to demand a solution. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2019 by welovesundaysatspace

[Loiner]

...keeping the country hostage for so long....
 
...unbelievable.....
 
...and pathetic....

Yes, they really are aren’t they? Dodgy Dave threw out the referendum without a hint of a plan of what to do if the result was Leave.
Now Remainers are trying their best at overturning democracy.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, tebee said:

Can I just say that even if I was an ardent brexiter I wouldn't want any brexit delivered by the current bunch of incompetent charlatans. The have no idea what they are doing, do not understand the situation and could not have done more damage to Britain's international reputation if they'd gone to the EU parliament in clown shoes and makeup and started slapping Merkel's face with wet fish.

 

They seem determined to deliver a brexit which combines all the disadvantages of EU membership with all the disadvantages of non-membership. Only thing it seems to satisfy is May's hatred of foreigners.

 

They have been playing to the gallery all along and wiping up patriotic frenzy when they should have been trying to workout how to implement brexit in some sort of decent way. Now the chickens have come home to roost and we've run out of time without a plan.    

"I wouldn't want any brexit delivered by the current bunch of incompetent charlatans"

 

Agree with this part of your post.

 

"They have been playing to the gallery all along and wiping up patriotic frenzy"

 

Disagree entirely.

[dick dasterdly]

5 hours ago, steve187 said:

i think that the UK has lost its way, the mp's do not care for their constituents one iota, they are there purely for themselves only, the 2 party politics has had its day, people switching parties at a whim, without calling a by election just prove my point above, i voted leave and fully appreciate that as this farce has dragged on, we should cancel brexit, the whole thing has been mishandled and i blame Cameron, he instigated it and then did a runner.

 

get a fresh outlook on the whole system of the EU being a super state without finances to back it up, get rid of some of the smaller no money and never will countries.

 

let the UK recover from this mess and try and reorganise the EU from within, but plan for a future outside the EU as it will collapse at some time, the EU leader are just bully boys and like the power they have, all the leaders should be replaced. its a corrupt system and we should never have got that deep in the quicksand.

"and try and reorganise the EU from within"

 

It's very clear that this will never work, as instead of reforming itself, the eu became even more entrenched after the uk brexit vote....☹️

[evadgib]

The Mogg has just weighed in on Sky:

 

[Baerboxer]

8 hours ago, Grouse said:

Poor Reuters article with weak analysis. And stop using that awful Americanism "lawmakers". Peasants 

 

1) May relented(a bit) to enable applying for an extension IF her crap deal is voted down AND parliament votes against leaving with no deal.

 

2) Cooper's amendment made this binding. Good; nobody trusts May. 

 

3) Corbyn has been dragged to support a second referendum. Good. But he insists a GE and soft Brexit are still on his magical bedside table. Why can't the old fool show leadership? Just once! As a result, some weak (and stupid) and self preserving Labour MPs will defy a Labour whip and vote against another referendum. If they do, they should have the whip removed.

 

4) Meanwhile the EU will only grant an extension if there is good reason.

 

5) For me, best way forward is to reopen the deal with no red lines and begin sensible discussions. If that takes a year, who cares.

 

The best way forward is to revoke Article 50. That can be done unilaterally regardless of whether weasel Macron or the Estonian el presidente like it or not. The pressure is then off. UK is back exactly as before with all its membership benefits and exceptions. And, should it be necessary it could be invoked again at any time.

 

Then the British people, now better and more truthfully informed, could decide either via  GE or another advisory referendum what they'd like the government to do.

 

This time they'd know that those who promised a Brexit would deliver so much and then pissed off as quickly as they could and who even now have no plan and no credibility, talk bllocks.

 

But May won't dare do this because she's scared of the ERG destroying the Tory party. And silly Corbyn wants to "leave" the EU but remain under much of its control - dope. 

 

Perhaps people might now wake up to what the Tories and Labor are really like.

[Baerboxer]

41 minutes ago, evadgib said:

The Mogg has just weighed in on Sky:

 

 

Another Tory toff who wants to pretend an advisory referendum which has no legal bearing in the UK law somehow replaces British representative parliamentary democracy process.

 

So, what if all the MP's voted in accordance with their constituents wishes? He has no idea what that result would be so clings to the referendum result. Which I reiterate was advisory as the UK is not an absolute democracy but a representative one.

[Baerboxer]

6 hours ago, Loiner said:

Yes, they really are aren’t they? Dodgy Dave threw out the referendum without a hint of a plan of what to do if the result was Leave.
Now Remainers are trying their best at overturning democracy.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

Only it was an advisory referendum only. Britain is a representative democracy and parliament is sovereign,

[Nigel Garvie]

9 hours ago, Grouse said:

Poor Reuters article with weak analysis. And stop using that awful Americanism "lawmakers". Peasants 

 

1) May relented(a bit) to enable applying for an extension IF her crap deal is voted down AND parliament votes against leaving with no deal.

 

2) Cooper's amendment made this binding. Good; nobody trusts May. 

 

3) Corbyn has been dragged to support a second referendum. Good. But he insists a GE and soft Brexit are still on his magical bedside table. Why can't the old fool show leadership? Just once! As a result, some weak (and stupid) and self preserving Labour MPs will defy a Labour whip and vote against another referendum. If they do, they should have the whip removed.

 

4) Meanwhile the EU will only grant an extension if there is good reason.

 

5) For me, best way forward is to reopen the deal with no red lines and begin sensible discussions. If that takes a year, who cares.

Yes "Lawmakers"totally pisses me off also, no doubt we will have to change our "S"s to "Z"s and spell colour humour etc wrongly as part of the trade deal in which we sell them our NHS.

3) Some of the LP MPs are motivated by the idiotic ideology of the 1970s not just their desire to keep their seats. I would not remove the whip from them, I would apply it with great force at regular intervals! Start with Kate Hoey and the beast of Bolsover! Interestingly a number of constituencies in Labour ares have already swung from Leave to Remain.

 

5) It's a 2nd referendum for me, everyone has made a total balls up of it, and we need a clear indication what the public wants now they know the disaster at hand. Parliament is still sovereign of course.

 

[Nigel Garvie]

6 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if the following happened next:

 

1. May postpones the meaningful vote again. 

2. MPs vote down May’s deal. 

3. MPs vote down no-deal. 

4. MPs vote down an extension of A50. 

5. May travels through Europe to demand a solution. 

 

Tragically this is funny.  One day May will get off the plane in Brussels, and find that there is no one interested in meeting her.

 

[Laughing Gravy]

17 hours ago, tebee said:

Can I just say that even if I was an ardent brexiter I wouldn't want any brexit delivered by the current bunch of incompetent charlatans.

Finnally agree with you on something, Now how many Brexiteers are in the cabinet and how many in the negotiations. Its a few (yes worthless) and nil respectively. That's why it is such a mess.

 

It is like trying to get an Iman to believe Jesus is the son of god. Never going to happen.

[Laughing Gravy]

11 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

Only it was an advisory referendum only. Britain is a representative democracy and parliament is sovereign,

You still banging on about advisory. Everyone has accepted it. What about the second one will that be advisor?

 

I am looking forward to the third and forth as it seems once in a lifetime vote means the life of a goldfish. Plus they are all advisory anyway. Aren't they!

[Laughing Gravy]

Theresa Mays statements. Brexit Means Brexit

We will be leaving on the 29th March 2019.

There will be no 2nd referendum.

We will deliver what the people voted for.

We will not extend article 50.

 

Do you see the pattern. She is an habitual liar and has always and intends to keep the UK, in the EU. The saddest thing is she will probably end up in the House of Lords after her stint as PM with a fat salary and traveling the world giving corporate speeches on how to shaft employees.

 

Says a lot about our political system.

 

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Theresa Mays statements. Brexit Means Brexit

We will be leaving on the 29th March 2019.

There will be no 2nd referendum.

We will deliver what the people voted for.

We will not extend article 50.

 

Do you see the pattern. She is an habitual liar and has always and intends to keep the UK, in the EU. The saddest thing is she will probably end up in the House of Lords after her stint as PM with a fat salary and traveling the world giving corporate speeches on how to shaft employees.

 

Says a lot about our political system.

 

Its always somebody else’s fault.

 

You backed a Brexit that had no plan, now you complain it’s a mess.

 

Well of course it is, you were told it would be (check under ‘Project Fear’).

 

Meanwhile, your Brexit, your mess!

[Loiner]

Its always somebody else’s fault.
 
You backed a Brexit that had no plan, now you complain it’s a mess.
 
Well of course it is, you were told it would be (check under ‘Project Fear’).
 
Meanwhile, your Brexit, your mess!

No plan was needed to stop the contributions and send the article 50 letter. Easy peasy. After two years max we would be out by now and free.
The current mess is wholly a result of the Remainer and EU conspiracy. That’s not a theory, just the truth.
Project Fear did not even consider the current mess. Do you think Dodgy Dave could had ‘fessed up that a massive Remainer movement would emerge to thwart the will of the people?
No, really, it’s YOUR mess.


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[Chomper Higgot]

32 minutes ago, Loiner said:

No plan was needed to stop the contributions and send the article 50 letter. Easy peasy. After two years max we would be out by now and free.
The current mess is wholly a result of the Remainer and EU conspiracy. That’s not a theory, just the truth.
Project Fear did not even consider the current mess. Do you think Dodgy Dave could had ‘fessed up that a massive Remainer movement would emerge to thwart the will of the people?
No, really, it’s YOUR mess.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

The evidence of reality manages to evade you.