Britain: As Theresa May quits, Britain is now in total crises mode and falling apart at the seams

Theresa May has bowed to intense pressure from her own party and named 7 June as the day she will step aside as Conservative leader, drawing her turbulent three-year premiership to a close. in Downing Street.

May said it had been “the honour of my life” to serve as Britain’s second female prime minister. Her voice breaking, she said she would leave “with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.

Note EU-Digest It is high time for Britain, that a politician with some common sense and courage stands up and acknowledges that when the people voted for Brexit, with a very small majority, the British voters were ill informed, and that there should be a second referendum. If not, the country could be looking ahead at a very grim future.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-48394091

Britain - Brexit: May defends Brexit delay and hints at customs union compromise by Irene Kostaki

While defending her decision to delay the Brexit date to hostile MPs in the House of Commons, UK Prime Minister Theresa May simultaneously kept the door open for more talks with the opposition Labour party in the hope that the two can find a compromise over the customs union despite calls from her own Conservative backbenchers that she needed to resign.

Hours after the EU-27 granted May a six-month delay for Brexit, which includes an early exit clause, May admitting that “reaching an agreement will not be easy because to be successful it will require both sides to make compromises”.

May threw her support behind the EU-27’s Brexit delay after marathon talks in Brussels that was a part of an extraordinary summit focused on finding a way forward in the Brexit process. May’s statement on the decision to delay Britain’s EU exit for a second time brought an angry reaction from hardline Brexiteers from her own party. Conservative eurosceptic Bill Cash described the decision as “abject surrender”.

Along with Conservative Brexiteers, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with whom May is trying to negotiate a compromise on the future relationship with the bloc, said that “this second extension in the space of a fortnight represents not only a diplomatic failure but is another milestone in the government’s mishandling of the entire Brexit process”.

May and Corbyn have continued their talks, with the former saying she thought, “Reaching an agreement will not be easy, because to be successful it will require both sides to make compromises,” while adding, “However challenging it may be politically, I profoundly believe that in this unique situation where the House is deadlocked, it is incumbent on both front benches to seek to work together to deliver what the British people voted for. And I think that the British people expect their politicians to do just that when the national interest demands it.”

May claims that the Tories and Labour are relatively close to an agreement on the customs union, but that they still need to work on the wording of their position.

Read more: May defends Brexit delay and hints at customs union compromise

Britain - Brexit: Customs Union at Centre of compromise talks

Brexit: customs union at centre of compromise talks ahead of crucial EU summit 

Note EU Digest : The problem is that Theresa May has not been able to put a concrete proposal together supported by a parliamentary majority in the British parliament, and keeps wasting EU members time and finances discussing "pies in the sky".

It is high time now the EU starts to play some hard ball with Theresa May, and gives her an "indefinite extension" until she can come up with a concrete proposal, which is backed by a majority in the British parliament.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/07/brexit-uk-prime-minister-says-there-is-still-a-chance-of-a-compromise-deal

Britain - Brexit: Farcical activities by British Parlementarians says former Theresa May advisor

Failed attempt at Brexit agreement 'nothing short of farcical', says Theresa May's former advisor

Read more at: 

https://www.euronews.com/2019/03/28/failed-attempt-at-brexit-agreement-nothing-short-of-farcical-says-theresa-may-s-former-adv

Britain-Brexit-Revolt: MPs seize control of Brexit process by backing indicative votes amendment - by Heather Stewart and Jessica Elgot

A second referendum - the best way to go

 MPs  today Monday seized control of the parliamentary timetable for a series of “indicative votes” on the next steps for Brexit – but Theresa May declined to say whether she would abide by the outcome.

An amendment tabled by former Tory minister Oliver Letwin passed, by 329 votes to 302, defeating the government, as MPs expressed their exasperation at its failure to set out a fresh approach.

Government sources confirmed that three ministers resigned from government in order to back the Letwin amendment: foreign affairs minister Alistair Burt, health minister Steve Brine and business minister Richard Harrington.In all, a total of 30 Tory MPs rebelled to vote for it.

After gathering Brexit-backing grandees at her country retreat of Chequers over the weekend and consulting DUP leader, Arlene Foster, and the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, on Monday, May concluded she could not yet win sufficient backing for her twice defeated deal.

The cross-party group – led by Letwin and Labour’s Hilary Benn – gave MPs a series of votes on the alternatives to May’s deal, such as a second referendum, softer Brexit or revoking article 50.


MPs seize control of Brexit process by backing indicative votes amendment

Britain - Brexit: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop - by Alice Tidey & Rachael Kennedy

British lawmakers on Tuesday rejected May's Brexit deal for a second time with 391 votes against, 242 in favour.

MPs first rejected the deal on January 14 by a margin of 230, handing May the worst defeat of any sitting government in British parliamentary history.

The prime minister said immediately after the vote that MPs now face "an unenviable choice" and said she still believes that her deal is the best and only deal available.

May said if lawmakers backed a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, it would become government policy.

A division list released by the Commons website shows that 75 Conservative MPs rebelled against May.

They were joined by 232 Labour MPs, 17 independent MPs, and every single MPs from Scotland's National party (35), the Liberal Democrats (11) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (10)

Bottom ine: the Brexit  deal is clearly dead - and to make any sense of what the British really want, specially now the British Public has become more familiar with what breaking away from the EU and the Common Market would eventually mean to the economy and them, and the danger of becoming totally subservient to the US, is to have a second referendum.

This is the only way to stop this chaos, after the political establishment totally failed the people.  It is high time to put the control of the future of Britain back in the hands of the British people, before the country implodes.  

Read more: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop | Euronews

Britain -- Brexit: May on course of another BREXIT defeat after Barnier says NO to more changes to the agreement

'A slap in the face': Barnier sets May on course for Brexit defeat

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/08/a-slap-in-the-face-barnier-sets-may-on-course-for-brexit-defeat?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Britain - Brexit: Labour prepared to back new Brexit referendum

Jeremy Corbyn has told Labour MPs the party will move to back another vote if their own proposed Brexit deal is rejected on Wednesday.

Labour's Emily Thornberry said if the parliamentary process ended with a choice of no deal or the PM's deal, the public should decide.

Theresa May is under growing pressure to delay the 29 March Brexit date.

Labour have not yet made clear what their proposed referendum would be on, but a party briefing paper to MPs says that any referendum would need to have "a credible Leave option and Remain".

The prime minister, who will update MPs on the negotiations on Tuesday, has insisted the UK can still leave next month as planned.

The UK voted to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016, but the withdrawal deal Mrs May negotiated with the EU has to be agreed by MPs - and it suffered a huge defeat by them last month.

Mrs May has ruled out a "meaningful vote" on her Brexit deal this week - saying one would be held by 12 March - but she will give MPs the chance to have their say on how the next steps for Brexit.

MPs will be able to table amendments to a government motion, putting forward their proposals on what they think should happen next.

Read more: Labour prepared to back new Brexit referendum - BBC News

Britain-Brexit: The Messier Brexit Gets, the Better Europe Looks - by Steven Erlanger

After Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, its leaders were in a panic. It was mired in a migration crisis and anti-Europe, populist forces were gaining. Britain’s decision seemed to herald the start of a great unraveling.

Two years later, as Britain’s exit from the bloc, or Brexit, looks increasingly messy and self-destructive, there is a growing sense, even in the populist corners of the continent, that if this is what leaving looks like, no, thank you.

Nothing has brought the European Union together quite as much as Britain’s chaotic breakdown. “A country is leaving and has gotten itself into a right old mess, making itself ridiculous to its European partners,” said Rosa Balfour, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.

The challenges facing Europe — low growth, eurozone governance, migration, debt, border security and populism — have by no means gone away. Nor has Europe found consensus on how to deal with them.

The very prospect of losing a country like Britain, considered so pragmatic and important in the world, is deeply wounding for the EU.

But on the whole, while all parties will suffer with Brexit, particularly in the event of a so-called “no deal” departure, analysts tend to agree that the European Union, which will remain the world’s largest market, is likely to fare far better than Britain.

 Read more at :The Messier Brexit Gets, the Better Europe Looks - The New York Times: Steven Erlanger

Britain- Brexit: For the poor, it’s not Europe that’s the problem. It’s austerity - by William Keegan

As the Brexit farce proceeds, it is worth remembering that before David Cameron made his catastrophic error of calling a referendum, the EU was way down the list of British people’s concerns in almost every opinion poll. Indeed, not even in the first 11.

The central point is that Brexit became the focus for all manner of discontents, many of them understandable. But leaving the EU would indubitably not be the answer to them, and would be guaranteed not to make the discontents into “glorious summer”.

Indeed, it would exacerbate the sources of this discontent. Why? Surely it is becoming increasingly obvious that growing swaths of British industry – much of it foreign-owned by conglomerates that enjoy the advantages of the single market – are cutting back their investment plans and in many cases planning to relocate to mainland Europe. The prospect of the diminution of the economic base of the country has dire implications not only for employment and living standards, but also for the tax base on which living standards depend.

We have spent 45 years becoming an integral region of Europe, creating an economic omelette that no one in their right mind would try to unscramble. Unfortunately there are a lot of not-so-right minds about, some of them in the cabinet, and we have the misfortune to have a prime minister who transmits but does not listen, and is fixated on a treacherous mission.

Read more: For the poor, it’s not Europe that’s the problem. It’s austerity | Business | The Guardian

Britain and the Brexit Impasse: A national government or “no deal” - by Brendan Donelly

In a recent article for the New York Times, the distinguished historian of the Conservative Party, Professor Tim Bale, argued that the “will to power” of the Conservative Party would enable it in the long term to reconstruct its inner cohesion, currently compromised by the Brexit debate. Professor Bale’s argument is controversial but, even if accurate from a historical perspective, it is highly unlikely to be reflected in the functioning of the Party over the crucial next three months. Last Wednesday’s ballot of Conservative MPs was at best a Pyrrhic victory for the Prime Minister.  The 117 votes recorded against her probably if anything understated the degree of opposition to her proposed texts for the Withdrawal Agreement from the EU and its accompanying Political Declaration. It is clear she cannot possibly rely on her Parliamentary Party to steer these proposals through the House of Commons against the opposition of the Labour Party and others.

But there is no conceivable majority among Conservative MPs for any other course of action either. A divided and dysfunctional Conservative Party is generating a divided and dysfunctional Conservative government. There is no reason at all to believe that this division can be overcome by any sudden outbreak of unity before 29 March 2019. The true lesson of the past tumultuous week in British politics is that no Conservative government is capable of adopting, much less implementing, a coherent alternative position to that of the United Kingdom’s leaving the EU by automatic operation of Article 50 on 29 March 2019. If in three months there is still a Conservative government, then “crashing out” of the EU without a negotiated withdrawal will have become inevitable. That important minority in the Conservative Parliamentary party favourable to this outcome need only persevere in their current obstructionist tactics to gain their goal through the asymmetric workings of Article 50.  Under Article 50 “no deal” emphatically means “no deal.”

There has been much talk in recent days of Parliament’s “taking back control of Brexit.” Amber Rudd has specified cross-party discussions to explore the possibility of a “soft Brexit” involving British membership of the EEA. This particular suggestion seems to rest on a number of questionable assumptions. The issue of British membership of the EEA is not one that in any circumstances can be resolved between now and 29 March  2019. If the EEA option is one the UK wishes to pursue after Brexit, it will need to be painstakingly negotiated with the EU during the “transition period.” The most that the EU might be willing to accept in this connection over the next three months would be changes to the wording of the non-binding Political Declaration, pointing towards future British membership of the EEA. It is more than doubtful however whether such marginal changes would be sufficient to guarantee or even make more likely a Parliamentary majority for the Prime Minister’s “deal.”  Some Labour MPs either favour or could accept an EEA-like arrangement, but the majority do not, including Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Keir Starmer, both of whom for different reasons would have difficulties in accepting the Freedom of Movement at the heart of the EEA. Most importantly, if the EU were to be persuaded at this late stage to make changes to the Political Declaration, it could only be at the pressing and well-grounded request of the sitting British government.  No present or future present Conservative government could ever accept favourable references in the Political Declaration to the EEA and Freedom of Movement. Most pressure on the government from the Conservative Party during the Brexit negotiations has come from precisely the opposite direction, seeking to reduce rather than maintain ties with the EU after Brexit. The EEA can provide no solution to the Conservative government’s present impasse.

Note EU-Digest: Re: Brexit: Britain and Britain's political establishment seem to be "up the creek without a paddle", and the so-called Brexiteers are not to be heard from or seen. A wise lesson for European citizens not to vote for Populist, Nationalist or Ultra Right parties in local or the upcoming May 2019 EU parliamentary elections. It's all empty rhetoric what these parties are producing. Just look at Britain (Brexit) and the USA (Donald Trump) to underscore that point.

Read more at: Brexit: A national government or “no deal” | The Federal Trust

Britain - Brexit: May sets January date for parliamentary Brexit vote

Theresa May sets January date for MPs' Brexit vote -

 

Read more at: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46586673

BRITAIN : The Brexiteers failed, so now they blame Theresa May - Populist can not and must not be trusted

Read more at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/12/brexiteers-have-failed-so-they-blame-theresa-may/?utm_term=.67c601740db5

Britain: British PM delays vote on Brexit

British PM Theresa May delays parliament vote on Brexit

 

Read more at: 

https://www.euronews.com/2018/12/10/may-calls-off-parliament-vote-due-tomorrow-on-brexit-deal-sources-tell-british-media

Britain - Brexit: Theresa May suffers three Brexit defeats in Commons

Ministers have agreed to publish the government's full legal advice on the deal after MPs found them in contempt of Parliament for issuing a summary.

And MPs backed calls for the Commons to have a direct say in what happens if her deal is rejected next Tuesday.

Mrs May said MPs had a duty to deliver on the 2016 Brexit vote and the deal on offer was an "honourable compromise".

Mrs May was addressing the Commons at the start of a five-day debate on her proposed agreement on the terms of the UK's withdrawal and future relations with the EU.

The agreement has been endorsed by EU leaders but must also be backed by the UK Parliament if it is to come into force. MPs will decide whether to reject or accept it on Tuesday 11 December.

 Read more: Theresa May suffers three Brexit defeats in Commons - BBC News

Austria: May humiliated by Salzburg ambush as she fights to save Chequers Brexit Plan in Austria: by Dan Sabbagh, Daniel Boffey and Pippa Crerar

Theresa May was left fighting to save her Chequers Brexit plan and with it her authority as prime minister after she was ambushed at the end of the Salzburg summit when EU leaders unexpectedly declared that her proposals would not work.

The prime minister was thrown on to the defensive – just over a week before the Conservative party conference – when EU leaders led by Donald Tusk and Emmanuel Macron rejected her Chequers plan as it stood, prompting hard Brexit Conservatives to demand it be abandoned.

May was also set an October deadline for a solution on the Irish border issue just hours after informing Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, in a private breakfast meeting that she felt it would be impossible to come to a compromise within such a timescale.

A clearly nervous and angry May told reporters that EU leaders were engaged in “negotiating tactics” designed to throw her off course. “I have always said these negotiations were going to be tough,” she said. “And at various stages of these negotiations, tactics would be used as part of those negotiations”.

The assault on May’s plan came shortly after a lunchtime meeting of EU leaders in the Austrian city, where they discussed the Brexit talks in May’s absence. EU council president Tusk declared that Chequers “would not work” while French president Macron said it was “not acceptable”.

A combative Macron accused British Brexiters of lying about how easy it would be to negotiate an exit from the EU on terms favourable to the UK.

“Those who explain that we can easily live without Europe, that everything is going to be alright, and that it’s going to bring a lot of money home are liars,” said Macron. “It’s even more true since they left the day after so as not to have to deal with it.”

Read more: May humiliated by Salzburg ambush as she fights to save Chequers plan | Politics | The Guardian

Britain - Brexit: Theresa May should start reading the Tea Leaves as 2.6 million Leave voters have abandoned support for Brexit since referendum, major new study finds - by Benjamin Kentish

The Brexit disaster

More than 2.6 million people have abandoned their support for Brexit and now back staying in the EU, a major study has concluded.

If the huge number of Britons who have changed their mind had voted to stay in the EU in 2016, the referendum would have delivered a clear Remain verdict.

The data will add to the debate about whether the country now needs a new referendum, with millions having second thoughts about their Leave vote amid growing fears about Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal.

In a key finding that will particularly intensify pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to take a tougher stance against Brexit, the study found the overwhelming majority of those changing minds are Labour voters in seats the party currently holds.

It comes as Conservative divisions over Brexit deepened, with Theresa May attempting to slap down Boris Johnson after he wrote another article attacking her approach.

The Independent has launched its own campaign for a Final Say referendum, with almost three quarters of a million people having signed our petition demanding one so far.

Read more: 2.6 million Leave voters have abandoned support for Brexit since referendum, major new study finds | The Independent

Brexit: the wheels have fallen off the bus

Read more at:
https://www.theglobalist.com/uk-european-union-brexit-trade-economy/

Britain to expel 23 Russian diplomats over ex-spy poisoning - by William Booth and Matthew Bodner

 British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday ordered the immediate expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats believed to be involved in espionage, in the first reprisals against Moscow for a chemical attack on a former double agent.

May, speaking to Parliament, said the response would include a halt to high-level meetings between British and Russian officials and the cancellation of a planned visit to Britain by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

She also said the royal family and government ministers would boycott this summer’s World Cup soccer tournament in Russia. More countermeasures — some clandestine — are under consideration.

May said Russia’s dismissive response to her demand for an explanation has “demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events.”

Read more: Britain to expel 23 Russian diplomats over ex-spy poisoning - The Washington Post

Brexit - ""Britain can't have their cake and eat it also" - EU's Barnier warns time running out for Brexit deal - by Gabriela Baczynska, Jan Strupczewski

Michel Barnier:" Bitain has to renegotiate 700 Intl..Trade Agreements"

EU negotiator Michel Barnier accused the British government on Tuesday of clinging to “illusion” while time runs out for a Brexit deal to avoid massive disruption when Britain leaves the European Union next year.

Speaking after briefing ministers from the other 27 EU states and ahead of publication on Wednesday of a first draft of a withdrawal treaty that officials say will cross many British red lines, Barnier returned to a familiar mantra that had become muted after an interim deal with London two months ago. 

“The clock is ticking. I am worried by the time, which is short,” he told reporters, referring to an October target for agreeing a treaty, including a transition period, in time for it to be ratified before Brexit in March 2019. 

With British politics still in turmoil over Brexit, a mammoth project rejected by nearly half the country in a 2016 referendum, there has been a sharpening of tone on both sides.

British officials accuse Brussels of eschewing creative solutions to avoid trade disruption, while EU leaders complain that Prime Minister Theresa May’s divided government is failing to make its intentions clear. 

Asked about a comment by the EU summit chair last week that ideas for a future trade pact being floated ahead of a key May speech on Friday were “pure illusion”, 

EU Chief negotiator Barnier said he agreed with Donald Tusk. “It is illusory to imagine we will accept cherry-picking,” he said of the idea that Britain could maintain EU regulations in some sectors, while diverging in others. 

Note EU-Digest: In this mornings (February 28th Press conference Barnier also pointed out that after Britain leaves the EU, Britain will have to renegotiate some 700 trade deals they were a part of during the more than 40 years of membership in the EU.  "Britain can't have their cake and eat it also".

Read more: EU's Barnier warns time running out for Brexit deal