Must Read Britain's May offers to quit to get her Brexit deal over the line

[webfact]

Britain's May offers to quit to get her Brexit deal over the line

By Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan and Andrew MacAskill

 

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street, as she faces a vote on alternative Brexit options, in London, Britain, March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May offered on Wednesday to quit if her European Union divorce deal passes at the third attempt, making a last-ditch sacrifice to try to win over dozens of rebels within her Conservative party.

 

While May's departure would not alter the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, it could give Conservative eurosceptics who have opposed it a greater say in negotiating the terms of Britain's future relationship with the EU.

 

May's office said there would be a contest to replace her after May 22 - assuming her plan gets through parliament - to provide new leadership for that stage of Brexit.

 

"I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party," May told a meeting of Conservative lawmakers (MPs).

 

"I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations – and I won't stand in the way of that."

 

May's gesture is the latest dramatic turn in the United Kingdom's three-year Brexit crisis, but it still remains uncertain how, when or even whether it will leave the EU.

 

While the move won over some critics of the deal, others were adamant that it made no difference to them.

 

The government is expected to bring May's agreement back to parliament on Friday, but speaker John Bercow repeated his warning that he would not allow a third vote unless the motion had changed substantially since its last defeat.

 

If May does go, she will become the fourth Conservative prime minister in a row to have fallen foul of divisions over Europe within her centuries-old party, following David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.

 

Many Conservative rebels who want a cleaner break from the EU had made clear they would only consider supporting her agreement if May, who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, gave a firm commitment to resign.

 

ENOUGH VOTES?

May had already promised to step down before the next election, due in 2022, but by offering to go sooner hoped to increase the chances of her Brexit deal passing.

 

"I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party," May, who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, told the party meeting, according to extracts released by her office.

 

Britain was originally due to leave the EU on March 29 but last week the EU granted a postponement until April 12.

 

Much could now hinge on whether May can win over the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the small Northern Irish party that props up her minority government but has so far rejected her Withdrawal Agreement.

 

May's deal, defeated in parliament by 149 votes on March 12 and by 230 votes on Jan. 15, means Britain would leave the EU single market and customs union as well as EU political bodies.

 

But it requires some EU rules to apply unless ways can be found in the future to ensure no border posts need to be rebuilt between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

 

Many Conservative rebels and the DUP have objected to this so-called Irish backstop, saying it risks binding Britain to the EU for years.

 

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who heads the ERG group of pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers, said he would now reluctantly vote for May's agreement if the DUP backed it or abstained.

 

But a spokesman said after a meeting of the group that "there is no way enough votes are coming out of that room to put the (Withdrawal Agreement) through".

 

To succeed, May needs at least 75 lawmakers to come over to her side.

 

Boris Johnson, former foreign minister, prominent eurosceptic and potential leadership candidate, was among those to have swung round behind May's deal, the Times reported.

 

INDICATIVE VOTES

While May was addressing her lawmakers, MPs in the main chamber debated eight Brexit options ranging from leaving abruptly with no deal to revoking the divorce or holding a new referendum.

 

Lawmakers had voted on Monday to grab control of the Brexit process for a day in a bid to break the impasse. Several options would see much closer alignment with the EU than May envisages, including staying in the single market or a customs union.

 

In the "indicative vote", MPs can support as many proposals as they wish. Results were due to be announced after 2100 GMT.

 

"This is not about the number of votes precisely cast for one motion or another," said Oliver Letwin, a 62-year-old Conservative former cabinet minister who has led parliament's unusual power grab.

 

"It's about whether, when we look at the results as a whole, ... we get enough data to enable us to have sensible conversations about where we can go next."

 

If May passes her deal this week, he said parliament's attempt to find an alternative would stop.

 

The uncertainty around Britain's most significant political and economic move since World War Two has left allies and investors aghast.

 

Supporters of Brexit say that, while the divorce might bring short-term instability, in the longer term it will allow the United Kingdom to thrive. Opponents say it will leave Britain poorer and weaker, cut off from its main trade partners.

 

Most voters think the negotiation has been handled badly and there may now be a slight majority for staying in the EU, recent polls suggest.

 

Many Conservative MPs say May herself has caused the chaos over Brexit by not negotiating harder with the EU.

 

"It was inevitable and I just feel she's made the right decision. She has actually read the mood of the party, which was a surprise," said Conservative lawmaker Pauline Latham.

 

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; additional reporting by Paul Sandle, Kate Holton, William Schomberg, Elisabeth O'Leary, Costa Pitas, Alistair Smout, Andy Bruce, David Milliken and James Davey; Editing by David Clarke and Kevin Liffey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-28

[AlexRich]

The DUP will be voting against the deal, not abstaining. The chances of it getting over the line are receding. So May could be in position for a bit longer.

 

The longer this drags on the closer we get to a second referendum. 

 

Brexiteers unbelieveably snatching defeat from the jaws jaws of victory.

 

You couldn’t make this up.

[Samui Bodoh]

I have run out of metaphors for 'self-harm', so I will repeat my favourite;

 

Never before have I seen a country so utterly determined to shoot itself in the crotch.

 

It is pure speculation, but one has to wonder; how much better of a country would the UK have been if it hadn't wasted so much political time, so much political energy and so much political effort on this issue? What might it have achieved? What new structures might it have created? What new ideas might have bubbled up and been implemented? How much further ahead might it have gone?

 

All this energy, merely to make oneself smaller...

 

 

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I have run out of metaphors for 'self-harm', so I will repeat my favourite;

 

Never before have I seen a country so utterly determined to shoot itself in the crotch.

 

 

 

It will be beneficial to the UK in the long run 

[AlexRich]

3 minutes ago, sanemax said:

It will be beneficial to the UK in the long run 

To quote Keynes, “in the long run we’re all dead”. 

 

Brexiteers will die EU citizens ... political kamikaze pilots.

[katana]

44 minutes ago, webfact said:

Britain's May offers to quit to get her Brexit deal over the line

Not sure what her quitting has to do with it. It's still a bad deal regardless of whether she quits or not.

[SheungWan]

21 minutes ago, katana said:

Not sure what her quitting has to do with it. It's still a bad deal regardless of whether she quits or not.

The DUP faction.

[Basil B]

Obviously they do not want her to go, the DUP is clear on that and so to are many of the rebels...

Well more to the point they won't vote for her deal, and can not wait for her to go.

[wayned]

Parliament has voted down all of the 8  options and Speaker Bercow has said that he will not let her accept the bill for the third time , what now?

[Laughing Gravy]

1 hour ago, katana said:

It's still a bad deal regardless of whether she quits or not.

It is and I agree with you.

 

1 hour ago, katana said:

Not sure what her quitting has to do with it.

It will mean that potentially a brexiteer or at least someone who is competent can lead the UK out of the EU.

 

I have said from day one that Mays job was to work for the EU and make the leave exit as difficult and frustrating as possible. She has done a great job at that. A remianer that is now finally being seen by her own party members. Get her out and a GE, because if not she will try her best to get another Referendum which again, I believe has been her goal all along, working for the EU.

[champers]

So Brexiteers who said they would never vote for May's deal are flip flopping to now vote for it because she is going to leave sooner than intended. They are portraying themselves as selfish and bereft of any integrity; unfit to run a whelk stall, never mind the Tory party and the country. 

Add in the fact that 10 Northern Irish nut jobs are holding the nation to ransom and it now requires Labour MPs to vote for May's deal (20 to 30) for it to pass.

Throw narcissist Speaker Bercow into the mix for good measure.

Eight alternative options voted for last night and not one got a majority.

What next?

[sammieuk1]

 Arlene for PM  at least we will never understand a word she ever says.  Come on Arlene Toora, loora, toora, loorye, aye And we can sing just like our fathers ????

[Topdoc]

"That a sitting PM should stoop so low as to blackmail MP's just adds to the disgrace she has brought to the office. And if MP’s allow themselves to be blackmailed into passing her disastrous deal, it shows that they too have lost their moral compass."

D. Rising

[vogie]

37 minutes ago, champers said:

So Brexiteers who said they would never vote for May's deal are flip flopping to now vote for it because she is going to leave sooner than intended. They are portraying themselves as selfish and bereft of any integrity; unfit to run a whelk stall, never mind the Tory party and the country. 

Add in the fact that 10 Northern Irish nut jobs are holding the nation to ransom and it now requires Labour MPs to vote for May's deal (20 to 30) for it to pass.

Throw narcissist Speaker Bercow into the mix for good measure.

Eight alternative options voted for last night and not one got a majority.

What next?

It does prove one thing though, anything is better than remaining in the EU. And Mrs Mays deal is so bad you have to fire yourself to get it through.

Here are the indicative votes from last night for those who have yet to see them.

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

Until this week Brexiteers and very specifically Rees-Mogg and the ERG were vehemently opposed to TM’s deal, it was RM told us worse than remaining.

 

TM’s deal has not changed.

 

So how does TM offering to resign make her deal more acceptable?

 

A logical explanation from any Brexit supporter welcome.

[sanemax]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Until this week Brexiteers and very specifically Rees-Mogg and the ERG were vehemently opposed to TM’s deal, it was RM told us worse than remaining.

 

TM’s deal has not changed.

 

So how does TM offering to resign make her deal more acceptable?

 

A logical explanation from any Brexit supporter welcome.

There will be more talks/negotiations with the E.U in the future after this agreement has been agreed upon 

[Chomper Higgot]

18 minutes ago, vogie said:

It does prove one thing though, anything is better than remaining in the EU. And Mrs Mays deal is so bad you have to fire yourself to get it through.

Here are the indicative votes from last night for those who have yet to see them.

 

 

Only three of those options are within the Government’s control.

 

No Deal

Revoke Article 50

Confirmatory Public Vote (Don’t call it a second referendum).

 

In the time frame agreed only two of those options are viable. 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, sanemax said:

There will be more talks/negotiations with the E.U in the future after this agreement has been agreed upon 

Like there are as a full member state.

 

But if Brexiteers argue, and they have, that the EU isn’t listening then your explanation is welcome but doesn’t cut the mustard on why TM’s deal suddenly becomes acceptable if she resigns.

[welovesundaysatspace]

7 minutes ago, sanemax said:

There will be more talks/negotiations with the E.U in the future after this agreement has been agreed upon 

That doesn’t answer the question how Theresa May’s resignation changes her deal. Brexiteers rejected her deal; they didn’t say “what a great deal it is, too bad it comes with the wrong PM.”

[SheungWan]

4 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Like there are as a full member state.

But if Brexiteers argue, and they have, that the EU isn’t listening then your explanation is welcome but doesn’t cut the mustard on why TM’s deal suddenly becomes acceptable if she resigns.

A ceremonial sacrifice always helps things along.

[SheungWan]

Just now, welovesundaysatspace said:

That doesn’t answer the question how Theresa May’s resignation changes her deal. Brexiteers rejected her deal; they didn’t say “what a great deal it is, too bad it comes with the wrong PM.”

Its not a binary decision in the end. It is a consideration of the alternatives.

[SheungWan]

9 minutes ago, sanemax said:

There will be more talks/negotiations with the E.U in the future after this agreement has been agreed upon 

That's right. The future relations eg trade with the EU.

[welovesundaysatspace]

9 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Only three of those options are within the Government’s control.

 

No Deal

Revoke Article 50

Confirmatory Public Vote (Don’t call it a second referendum).

 

In the time frame agreed only two of those options are viable. 

They should be forced to decide for one. One vote, no abstination, participation mandatory. 

[Loiner]

To quote Keynes, “in the long run we’re all dead”. 
 
Brexiteers will die EU citizens ... political kamikaze pilots.

One man’s kamikaze pilot is just another man’s freedom flyer.

[vogie]

15 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Until this week Brexiteers and very specifically Rees-Mogg and the ERG were vehemently opposed to TM’s deal, it was RM told us worse than remaining.

 

TM’s deal has not changed.

 

So how does TM offering to resign make her deal more acceptable?

 

A logical explanation from any Brexit supporter welcome.

She won't have any involvement with phase 2.

[SheungWan]

14 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Until this week Brexiteers and very specifically Rees-Mogg and the ERG were vehemently opposed to TM’s deal, it was RM told us worse than remaining.

TM’s deal has not changed.

So how does TM offering to resign make her deal more acceptable?

A logical explanation from any Brexit supporter welcome.

She would not be leading the negotiations for future relations with the EU and the opportunity for a more pro-Brexit PM to lead the second stage.

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

A ceremonial sacrifice always helps things along.

Sacrificing the British ecomy, jobs, the nation’s international standing - yeh that’ll help things along.

[SheungWan]

34 minutes ago, vogie said:

It does prove one thing though, anything is better than remaining in the EU. And Mrs Mays deal is so bad you have to fire yourself to get it through.

Here are the indicative votes from last night for those who have yet to see them.

Doesn't prove anything of the sort.

[vogie]

Just now, SheungWan said:

Doesn't prove anything of the sort.

Does so.

[SheungWan]

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Sacrificing the British ecomy, jobs, the nation’s international standing - yeh that’ll help things along.

That's an Ad hominem.