Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May has postponed the final vote by Members of the Parliament on the Brexit deal scheduled for Tuesday. Amid opposition to the Irish backstop, Prime Minister admits the deal would have been voted down by a huge margin
Prime Minister Theresa May delayed the Tuesday vote on the Brexit Deal on Monday. Late in the afternoon, the PM officially postponed the vote during the House of Commons session. Given the MPs concerns over the Irish backstop and the government’s refusal to reveal to the Parliament the legal advice given on Brexit, the chances of the deal being voted down were very high.
PM May has said that she will be discussing the backstop proposal with the European states, ensuring empowerment for the House of Commons in the matter. She added, “if I can secure additional reassurance on the question of the backstop, and that will be my focus in the days ahead”.
On Monday, however, the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar told the press that there would be no changes in the backstop proposal. He added, “The reason we’ve ended up in the solution we have is because of the red lines the UK itself laid down.” The statement was followed by a diplomatic telephonic conversation between the British PM and European leaders over the weekend.
The Downing Street has said the vote is likely to be delayed till January with several MPs looking to vote against the Brexit. Officials said, “if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow the deal would be rejected by a significant margin”.
Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn said it had been clear for weeks that MPs would reject the Brexit deal, adding “the government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray.” In response to the PM’s decision, the opposition leader said Britain was now in “an extremely serious and unprecedented situation”. The CBI, on the other hand, spoke of the growing economic concerns with the Pound falling to its lowest in two years with increasing risks to the British economy amid the Brexit chaos. Responding to the delay, the CBI asserted Britain “risks sliding towards a national crisis”
The British Prime Minister has now set out for a series of meetings with European leaders, starting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday. Theresa May is looking to sort matters with European leaders before the two-day EU summit starts on Thursday.
