Embattled May seeks compromise on Brexit
Print Edition
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May was yesterday trying to forge consensus in parliament on a Brexit divorce agreement after the crushing defeat of her own deal left Britain’s exit from the European Union in disarray 10 weeks before it is due to leave.
The day after her parliamentary loss by the worst margin for a British government in modern times, May was widely expected to hold on to power in a no-confidence vote, having secured the backing of her own party’s rebels and its Northern Irish allies.
The no-confidence motion, called by opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn after lawmakers rejected May’s Brexit deal by 432-202, was due to be held overnight.
With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the United Kingdom is now in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.
After lawmakers in the 800-year-old parliament dismissed May’s deal, she pledged to speak to senior parliamentarians to find a compromise that would avoid a disorderly no-deal Brexit or another referendum on membership.
May, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, will speak to the opposition Labour party, the Northern Irish DUP and her own lawmakers.
Labour’s finance minister-in-waiting, John McDonnell, said May could eventually get a deal through parliament if she negotiated a compromise with his party.
“We will support a deal that brings the country back together, protects jobs and supports the economy,” McDonnell said.
He added that Labour wanted a permanent customs union with the EU, a close relationship with its single market and greater protections for workers and consumers. Labour says its aim is to win power and negotiate Brexit on better terms.
Corbyn said May was leading a “zombie government” and that she had not spoken to him since the Brexit vote.
May’s humiliating loss appears to catastrophically undermine her two-year strategy of forging an amicable divorce with close ties to the EU after the March 29 exit.
Despite the failure of May’s deal, many investors see the prospect of exiting with no deal at all receding as parliament hardens its stance against it.
May says canceling Brexit is likelier than leaving with no deal, but she has repeatedly stressed her determination to leave and described any failure to carry out the mandate of the 2016 referendum as “catastrophic” for democracy.
She said a national election would also be a bad idea. “I believe that is the worst thing we could do, it would deepen division when we need unity,” May told parliament.
As the politicians discussed Brexit, companies were bracing for the possible chaos of a no-deal Brexit that would see trade with the EU switch to World Trade Organization rules. Many companies say this could disrupt supply chains built to rely on friction-free trade.
Brexiteers anticipate some short-term economic pain but say Britain will then thrive if cut loose from what they cast as a doomed experiment in German-dominated unity.
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