UK MPs scramble to form alternative Brexit plan

Britain’s parliament yesterday held a series of votes to seek an alternative Brexit solution as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign if she wants her own unpopular plan approved.

Three years after Britons voted to break the country’s near half-century bond with the European Union, this week was supposed to see the endgame—but no clear end is in sight.

Parliament has already twice rejected the deal forged by the EU and May—who personally favoured staying in the bloc before becoming head of a government tasked with steering Britain out of it.

But House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said on Wednesday “there’s a real possibility” that May will try again to get her deal passed on Thursday or Friday.

The price of failure could be high.

May is still desperately short of votes and a third successive defeat would weaken her further.

EU leaders have given Britain a new extended deadline of April 12 to get May’s deal ratified or find a new way out.

Failure to do either could result in a no-deal divorce that could disrupt trade on both sides of the Channel and send the British pound plunging.

Alternatively, Britain could seek an even longer extension, putting it in the bizarre situation of having to take part in European Parliament elections nearly two months after it was supposed to have left.

The UK parliament decided to break the deadlock by giving itself the right to choose from a variety of alternatives to May’s plan.

It will vote at 1900 GMT on options that range from holding a second referendum to recalling the EU withdrawal notice and maintaining ties with the bloc.

May’s own deal is not one of the 16 proposals submitted for debate to parliament speaker John Bercow. He will announce the ones that will be on the agenda at around 1530 GMT.

Time has been set aside on Monday for MPs to try and whittle down the most popular options to a final plan.

“It is very unlikely that today’s votes will reveal a majority for anything,” said Oliver Letwin, a Conservative MP who is spearheading the initiative.

May will hope that none of the alternatives get majority support and that her own agreement ends up looking like the best option.

 

UK MPs scramble to form alternative Brexit plan

Britains parliament yesterday held a series of votes to seek an alternative Brexit solution as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign if she wants her own unpopular plan approved. Three years after Britons voted to break the countrys near half-century bond with the European Union, this week was supposed to see the endgamebut no clear end is in sight. Parliament has already twice rejected the deal forged by the EU and Maywho personally favoured staying in the bloc before becoming head of a government tasked with steering Britain out of it. But House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said on Wednesday theres a real possibility that May will try again to get her deal passed on Thursday or Friday. The price of failure could be high. May is still desperately short of votes and a third successive defeat would weaken her further. EU leaders have given Britain a new extended deadline of April 12 to get Mays deal ratified or find a new way out. Failure to do either could result in a no-deal divorce that could disrupt trade on both sides of the Channel and send the British pound plunging. Alternatively, Britain could seek an even longer extension, putting it in the bizarre situation of having to take part in European Parliament elections nearly two months after it was supposed to have left. The UK parliament decided to break the deadlock by giving itself the right to choose from a variety of alternatives to Mays plan. It will vote at 1900 GMT on options that range from holding a second referendum to recalling the EU withdrawal notice and maintaining ties with the bloc. Mays own deal is not one of the 16 proposals submitted for debate to parliament speaker John Bercow. He will announce the ones that will be on the agenda at around 1530 GMT. Time has been set aside on Monday for MPs to try and whittle down the most popular options to a final plan. It is very unlikely that todays votes will reveal a majority for anything, said Oliver Letwin, a Conservative MP who is spearheading the initiative. May will hope that none of the alternatives get majority support and that her own agreement ends up looking like the best option.