Brexit May Not Happen, Senior UK Official Warns
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sun, 12/30/2018
Since wrapping up negotiations with the EU over the UK Brexit withdrawal treaty and its troublesome Irish Backstop, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted that her fractious parliament has three options: Her deal, no deal or no Brexit at all. And though recent reports have suggested that May might be on the verge of finally winning a majority for her supremely unpopular deal, she and her senior ministers are cranking up the pressure on intransigent Tories to give her deal the best possible chance of passing during a scheduled “meaningful vote” on Jan. 14. Including reminding MPs that if they don’t vote for her deal, they will risk canceling Brexit altogether.
And in the latest continuation of May’s “Project Fear”, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned during an interview with the Sunday Times this weekend that he sees a “50-50” chance of Brexit failing altogether if MPs reject May’s deal, and that it is “a matter of honour” for MPs to back May’s deal because failure would be “incendiary”.
ox’s comments follow reports that the Tory Whip Julian Smith has ratcheted up pressure on conservative MPs over the holiday.
As a reminder, here are some of the other “Project Fear” predictions made by May’s government:
Here are some of the Project Fear predictions the government has made:
No clean drinking water.
Food shortages.
No insulin for diabetics.
Shortages of medicine.
No more sandwiches (yes, really).
Risk of “super-gonorrhea” epidemic.
Immediate recession.
Every family thousands of pounds poorer.
No planes allowed through other nations’ aerospace.
The south of England becomes a carpark for trucks that were previously engaged in barrier-free trade between nations.
And though Fox would like to see more concessions from the EU, the fact remains that the public has spoken and MPs have an obligation to vote for the deal, given the “very small risk” that the backstop – the deal’s most controversial element – will take effect.
Parliament contracted out its sovereignty to the public by holding a referendum, Fox says. “So parliament cannot now, with any honour, renege on that result. Were they to do so, I think you would shatter the bond of trust between the electorate and parliament. And I think that would put us into unprecedented territory with unknowable consequences.”
The cabinet minister insists he would rather accept a deal that falls short than risk “no Brexit.” Although he would “like to see more” EU concessions on the Irish backstop – the insurance policy to keep an open border on the island of Ireland ” he adds: “If the choice is what I would regard as a very small risk of the backstop coming into existence or a much bigger risk of no Brexit, I’m very clear which way I would come down.”
The Rest…HERE
