Parliament Rejects Theresa May’s Brexit Deal a Second Time
Parliament will vote to leave the EU without a Brexit deal on Wednesday.
Parliament handed beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May another defeat as the members rejected her Brexit deal for a second time.
They shot it down 391-242, even though May sought out “last minute legal assurances on the backstop from Brussels.”
The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29.
What Happened Today
Fuzzy blogged on Monday that May flew to Strasbourg to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in an attempt to save the Brexit deal. She announced after the meeting that she received the “legally binding changes” demanded by some members of parliament.
I guess that didn’t work. From Fox News:
Much of the opposition to the deal on the right comes from concern over the “backstop” — a safety net by which the U.K. temporarily remains in a customs union until a trade deal in secured, so as to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“Brexiteers” have pointed to the lack of a unilateral exit mechanism in the backstop as evidence that it could lead to Britain never leaving the bloc, or being forced to accept unfavorable trading terms. May returned late Monday from a last-gasp meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and announced that she had in fact secured “legally binding” changes to the agreement to prevent a permanent backstop.
But May’s brief hopes of it moving the needle were dealt a blow on Tuesday when Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told the House of Commons that while the new clauses “enhance” the agreement, it does not change the fundamental risk.
That fundamental risk? The Northern Ireland border.
Going Forward
Since parliament rejected this deal, May will hold a no-deal vote on Wednesday, which means the UK can leave the EU without a deal. Parliament will vote on Thursday to postpone the May 29 deadline, but in order for that to happen, the EU has to agree with it.
If the UK leaves without a deal, then Britain would revert “to World Trade Organization (WTO) terms with the E.U. Business groups.” Pro-Remain members of parliament believe this “will cause havoc” while the pro-Brexit members call their fears “overblown.”
From The Telegraph:
Experts believe that, if the UK plays its cards right politically, a managed no deal could emerge. EU officials have speculated about an extension of Article 50 for a few months, to create a “parachute” to put temporary measures in place.
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, is confident that if the crunch comes EU member states will strike bilateral side-deals with the UK to cushion the blow. “For now the Commission is taking a strong line, but EU member states will have to look after their own interests”, he predicts.
Mujtaba Rahman, the head of Europe practice at the Eurasia Group agrees. “The EU is tough but not stupid,” he says. “It will be keen to minimise disruption in the event the deal doesn’t fly.”
So for all the catastrophist predictions, the reality of a no deal is likely to be disruptive, but not world-ending. Or in the earthy phrasing of a senior diplomat from an EU trading power: “no deal won’t be an explosion, it will be a wet fart.”
As you can see, while some believe a no-deal Brexit could cause the end of the world, the EU and UK would be wise not to let that happen. I’m sure the EU will do what it can to make the UK’s life miserable after exiting, but to what cost? Is it willing to sacrifice its own citizens just to make the UK pay because they don’t want to belong to the bloc?
The UK has the world’s fifth-largest economy. The EU would be dumb to not place nice if the UK leaves the bloc without a deal.
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Comments
This is good news. The EU is just another disreputable bureaucracy. It should be dissolved, each country should keep self determination, and they can have trade agreements for economic cooperation.
What utter stupidity, the EU should be dissolved, and Merkel should be tried for treason, her actions are far worse than what Hitler did, at least Hitler’s aggressions were intended to make Germany the single most powerful country on Earth, while the East German Marxist Madam intends to completely eradicate the Germanic race ! What a human tragedy , Merkel sits silently as thousands of beautiful blond German girls are raped by the “Filth of Islam” !
The Anti-Brexit MPs act as if they are afflicted by ‘battered wife syndrome.’ They’re loathe to remain, yet terrified to leave for parts unknown, so they sit, and do nothing, except pray not to be battered again.
It’s not that complicated, guys (and gals). “If the UK leaves without a deal, then Britain would revert “to World Trade Organization (WTO) terms with the E.U. Business groups.”
The Chunnel will remain open; Guiness will still export; tourists will still flock; the Royals will still wave; and the Muslim rape gang scandals will still be ignored and unprosecuted.
Move on dot org, and exit already.
Exactly.
Reading your comment, I am immediately reminded how the world economy was going to crash and burn FOREVER if PDT was elected.
How did that work out?
This story is unchanging, report after report, article after article. Sort of like protecting borders. Lots of talk but almost no serious intention.
This is all just theater being put on so May and the remainers can subvert the will of the people and skuttle Brexit.
Joseph Addison said it best although changed a bit… “he who hesitates is lost”.
All this folderol is nugatory. Mere threats to try to scare the UK into staying in the EU. Once the split happens, these details become inconsequential. The big reality will be that the attempt to slap together a “thing” called Europe—a political unit with the economic, industrial, and military clout to mess up the world the way various European empires did in the good ol’ days from about 1500 to 1945—will be broken. Nostalgia dies hard, but those days are gone, and nobody outside of Europe really misses them. For the EU dream, harassing the UK with trade or exchange annoyances after Brexit will be about as useful as tacking additional time onto the sentence of a prisoner who’s already escaped.
“Brexiteers” have pointed to the lack of a unilateral exit mechanism in the backstop as evidence that it could lead to Britain never leaving the bloc, or being forced to accept unfavorable trading terms.
I’m impressed. Not so much that they spotted it; it’s about as obvious as a hand grenade can be. Rather, impressed that they mention it. British politics, certainly since WW2 but arguably much earlier, is particularly good at pretending to not notice the embarrassingly obvious.
It’s ridiculously obvious what May and the Remainers are trying to do.
They’ve ‘negotiated’ a deal that EVERYBODY knew was never going to pass.
They’ve spent the last few months talking about how catastrophic a No-Deal Brexit would be.
They’re setting themselves up to have a yes/no vote on Remain or No Deal Brexit with the clear intention of getting people to re-vote for Remain.
The only question is whether the British public is going to put up with it.
She is pathetic.
The boehner of Britain.
All that’s missing is meaghn markel’s sexually confused child.
“…and the Muslim rape gang scandals will still be ignored and unprosecuted.”
Hopefully this will change since they won’t be under the PC police rules.