Theresa May Warns Brexit Could Be “Delayed Or Frustrated” As Draft Deal Faces Overwhelming Opposition
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sun, 11/18/2018
Facing a “critical week” that will include a meeting with EU bureaucrats in Brussels and culminate with a weekend summit to iron out the final details of May’s draft Brexit plan, as well as an accompanying political statement, Theresa May is resorting to threats and scare tactics to drum up support for her supremely unpopular draft Brexit plan, which she insists is the “best deal possible” and “in the national interest” despite many salient criticisms expressed by Brexiteers and remainers alike.
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday that featured May facing off with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the prime minister claimed that some of the concerns raised by opponents of the deal could be addressed with alternations to the accompanying political statement, a nonbinding agreement that is intended to create a ‘framework’ for the future trading relationship between the two sides.
And if this isn’t enough, well, MPs would be better off if they swallowed their doubts and trusted the process – at least, if they want Brexit to succeed. Because provoking a leadership change at this point would likely jeopardize the UK’s ability to reach any deal with the EU. And faced with the possibility of a “no-deal” Brexit, it’s likely that MPs would vote for a second referendum to would raise the possibility of Brexit being scrapped altogether.
“These next seven days are going to be critical, they are about the future of this country,” May told Sky News. “I am not going to be distracted from the important job.”
“A change of leadership at this point isn’t going to make the negotiations any easier…what it will do is mean that there is a risk that actually we delay the negotiations and that is a risk that Brexit gets delayed or frustrated.”
May’s suggestion that Brexit could still be cancelled comes as Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said her MPs would vote against the draft plan, while a poll of 505 Tory MPs found that more were against the deal than for it. This would add to the unanimous opposition from the DUP (the Northern Irish party propping up May’s government) and almost guarantee that the deal would lose by a staggering margin, given that most Labour MPs would also be expected to vote against.
The Rest…HERE
