BRUSSELS: British Prime Minister Theresa May returned on Friday to her mammoth struggle of persuading a deeply divided parliament to back her Brexit deal after an EU summit granted her more time but little to help change minds in London.
After a bruising day in Brussels, May secured a two-week reprieve to try to get the deal she negotiated in November through parliament at a third attempt or face a potentially chaotic departure from the European Union on April 12.
But while the Brexit deadline has moved — from an original March 29 deadline — parliament has not.
In fact, incensed by comments from May that pinned the blame for Britain’s Brexit chaos on them, many lawmakers have hardened their resistance to the deal she will bring back before them next week.
In an appeal to the very same lawmakers she criticised on Wednesday, May said in the early hours of Friday: “I know MPs (members of parliament) on all sides of the debate have passionate views, and I respect those different positions.”
“Last night I expressed my frustration. I know that MPs are frustrated too. They have difficult jobs to do. I hope we can all agree, we are now at the moment of decision.”
She needs to change the minds of 75 more lawmakers to get her deal through after it was overwhelmingly rejected twice before.
EU leaders were keen to increase the pressure on Britain’s parliament, which is also expected next week to try to wrest control of the Brexit process from May’s government.
The embattled premier faces daunting odds to persuade recalcitrant British lawmakers to back a plan they have already overwhelmingly rejected twice by a new April 12 deadline agreed with the European Union.
If May succeeds, Britain — which was staring at a sharp cliff-edge deadline of March 29 for leaving the EU — will depart on May 22 under the terms of a withdrawal agreement struck with the EU last year.
But if MPs defeat the accord again next week Brexit will go ahead on April 12, unless London decides to request another longer extension which would require Britain taking part in elections for the European Parliament in May.
“We are now at the moment of decision,” May told reporters in Brussels late on Thursday.
“I will make every effort to ensure that we are able to leave with a deal and move our country forward.”
MPs resumed the debate over Brexit on Friday after the speaker granted an urgent question on the issue. Parliament has been deadlocked for months over Brexit, with lawmakers unable to decide how to implement the 2016 referendum result, reflecting bitter divisions in the country as a whole.
The pound rose on Friday on news of the delay but was struggling to claw back its latest losses with uncertainty remaining high over what path Britain will now take.
European Council President Donald Tusk said the extension left the country with four options.
“The UK government will still have a choice of a deal, no-deal, a long extension or revoking Article 50,” he told a press conference.
Tusk said April 12 had emerged as the “key date” — the date by which Britain has to register candidates for the European Parliament elections.
“If it has not decided to do so by then, the option of a long extension will automatically become impossible.
“Until that date, all options will remain open.”
After discussions with May, the EU’s 27 other leaders wrangled late into the evening in Brussels over the terms of delay, with reports emerging they were unconvinced by her strategy.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that prior to the summit he believed May’s deal had a 10 per cent chance of winning parliamentary approval, but after hearing from her, that had dropped to five per cent, according to a European source.
“You are very optimistic,” Tusk is said to have replied.
The date for a third parliamentary vote on the divorce deal has not yet been set.
And it faces a further hurdle in the form of speaker John Bercow, who has said the agreement has to be on different terms from the ones MPs have already resoundingly rejected.
In the wake of the summit, lawmakers in Britain signalled their continuing unease at the pact.
“Extension negotiations are a sign of things to come under May’s deal,” said Conservative MP Sam Gyimah, who quit the government in December in protest at the plan.
“Out of the room, each one of 27 countries will have a veto over what we want. This is not taking back control,” he added on Twitter, calling for “time... to work out where we (are) going.”
— AFP
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