France’s Macron: EU ‘Ready to Scrap’ Deadline to Avoid No-Deal Brexit
EU gambit to weaken PM Johnson, embolden the pro-EU lawmakers trying to stall the Brexit, says ex-Premier Gordon Brown
The European Union is ready to withdraw the October 31 deadline in a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit, French President Emmanuel Macron said. The French announcement, reported by the British newspaper Daily Telegraph, comes days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved to suspend the nation’s parliament for five weeks, a step likely to curb lawmakers’ ability to pass resolutions challenging a possible no-deal Brexit.
With Wednesday’s order to suspend the House of Commons, Prime Minister Johnson seems committed to leaving the EU, with or without a deal in nine weeks’ time. By extending the deadline the EU apparently wants to give pro-Brussels Members of Parliament (MPs) more time to use the parliament’s floor to stall no-deal Brexit and force a second referendum.
Some Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) saw the French decision as a sign of weakness on the part of the EU, claiming that “Brussels was starting to crack under the pressure applied by Boris Johnson,” the Daily Telegraph reported.
The news comes shortly after former British Prime Minister and pro-EU Labour politician, Gordon Brown, claimed that EU leadership was willing to scrap the deadline. former PM Gordon said that “none of the other European commissioners, including the new president of the European commission (Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen), I believe, will hold to that October 31 deadline.”
The EU’s gambit is devised to weaken PM Johnson and embolden the pro-EU lawmakers trying to sabotage the Brexit, the former British Prime Minister disclosed. “European leaders are prepared to withdraw the October 31 Brexit deadline to ‘pull the rug’ from under the prime minister,” British newspaper The Times reported citing the former Prime Minister. “I think if that happened next week it would help us win a vote in the House of Commons and and help put the pressure back on the government,” he declared.
According to British newspaper Daily Express, pro-EU Conservative lawmakers were planning to “put forward a motion to force Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek an extension to the Brexit negotiations unless he has reached an agreement with the EU by the October 31 deadline.” The rebel MPs were seeking support of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow in pushing a motion to this effect by the end of next week, the newspaper revealed on Friday.
The Daily Telegraph reported French President Macron’s decision:
The EU wants to extend Article 50 to avoid a no deal Brexit, it has emerged, as Eurosceptic MPs said Brussels was starting to crack under the pressure applied by Boris Johnson.
Emmanuel Macron was said to be ready to “withdraw” the October 31 deadline, and the European Commission said another extension was “obviously a possibility” in a clear softening of its position ahead of intensive negotiations next week.
The EU believes that by offering an extension it will undermine Mr Johnson’s argument that Brexit has to happen in two months’ time “deal or no deal”, but Brexiteers cited the news as evidence that Brussels is starting to panic.
Ahead of the October deadline, pro-EU lawmakers have been mobilizing support for legislative measures to stop a no-deal Brexit. On Tuesday, some 160 British MPs signed the so-called ‘Church House deceleration’ vowing to prevent the government from leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement by applying “whatever mechanism possible.”
Johnson, who has a working majority of just one MP in the lower house, also faces a serious challenge from Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The opposition leader wants to oust the sitting prime minister and install himself as the leader of a caretaker government with support of pro-EU Conservative lawmakers. The only thing keeping the pro-EU Tory MPs behind Johnson is the prospect of a government led by Corbyn, a much despised figure among their conservative voters.
Having failed to deliver Brexit after three years of fruitless negotiations with Brussels, the Conservative party faces an existential threat as its political base warms up to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. In the EU election held in May 2019, conservative voters turned away from the Tories in large numbers, opting instead for Farage’s newly-formed party. The Brexit Party won a third of the vote, and secured 29 of the 73 British EU seats. The Conservatives came a dismal third with just four seats.
On Wednesday, Farage promised to withdraw his party’s candidates if Johnson goes for a clear Brexit. “We will put country before party and support Boris Johnson, and Boris Johnson with our support would be unstoppable. Not only would he win a big majority, he’d be a hero,” Farage said on Saturday. “If Boris Johnson decides that the right thing to do is go for a clean Brexit, then we would stand down.” Johnson is yet to respond to this generous offer.
The coming nine weeks will decide, not just the political future of the Conservative party, but the fate of Britain as a sovereign nation. Whether Johnson will rise up to the occasion, and come out as a ‘hero,’ as Farage suggests, still needs to be seen.
Farage to Johnson: Deliver ‘clean break Brexit’ or ‘politically die’
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EU bluff called.
No EU Deal is a good EU Deal.
BRUSSELS BETTER NOT WAVE THEIR MUSCLE AT ME! – Nora Batty
Nora Batty
http://nora-battys.co.uk/norawp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/losw_nora_steps.jpg
Isn’t that Mrs. Conclusion, from Monty Python?
Not true. No deal would be bad. Very bad. But not as bad as the deal they sold to May.
You notice what they’re NOT willing to do? Actually renegotiate the deal.
They are waking up to the fact that they’re not dealing with the pathetic wimp May anymore.
They’re just doing the same crap they’ve been doing for 3 years. Delay delay delay delay and continue bribing British MPs to never agree to leave.
The gig is up.
That’s an excellent point. We’ll see what happens in a month or so then.
Rees-Mogg: ‘Remainers crying wolf’
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused Remain-backing MPs of “crying wolf” with their protests against the suspension of parliament.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcYSDim1Kbs
Been saying all along, a no-deal Brexit will hurt the EU more than it could hurt the UK.
True that.
The UK economy is the 5th largest in the world.
https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/
Quite possibly. But whether it hurts them more or less, it will definitely hurt them, so they don’t want it any more than Johnson does. Therefore he is in a good position to squeeze a reasonable deal out of them. But it’s his willingness to take no deal over a bad deal that has pushed them to this.
NEVER believe the EU, France, Germany, or any Socialist party [which has a lot of overlap including the Labour Party in its entirety] when they promise that they will do something if you just give up your more powerful position. They have a perfect record of lying.
Subotai Bahadur
Prime Minister Johnson turned the tables on the EU rather quickly. Now the EU has to scramble for a deal before the deadline. My opinion: Tell the EU to pound sand and stick with the October 31st date for a hard Brexit.
Hear hear!
Spot on!
French President is ‘shocked, shocked to find a deadline going on here’.
In reality if the EU will put their cards on the table well and good. If not within two weeks then PM Johnson should tell the EU to pound sand.
Go for a hard, clean, no-negotiation Brexit. One cannot put a price on sovereignty.
No. A deal is necessary, for both sides. But a fair deal, not the piece of crap that May got.
I’m not sure why some people keep saying this. Sure, a trade deal will ultimately be signed, but there’s nothing that demands it be inclusive of the Brexit terms. The UK is the 5th largest economy in the world. There’s no way the EU can walk away from that in the long run. In the short run, sure, a clean deal would make things less bouncy for the UK, but the EU needs the UK far more than the UK needs the EU and they will be forced to admit it eventually. The EU is just being puckish to “punish” the UK for having the gall to invoke Article 50, to make an example out of them, lest other countries get any crazy ideas about leaving.
And the day the UK leaves the EU they have a good trade agreement with the US. People seem to forget that Johnson and Trump came to that agreement at the G7.
Ignore that “croaking frog”. Get on with Brexit.
Justice delayed is justice denied. There’s no way in hell Boris Johnson doesn’t deliver Brexit by Oct. 31. He will never get this opportunity again.
Oh my. All the Globalists use the same script – here and in the UK.
UK Leftists: “Boris is a Dictator!”
‘If I were Boris, I would prorogue the parliament too’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMo4H4VuKSI
This a FRENCH announcement, not an EU announcement. It is just an attempt to sow confusion. BoJo should say that and proceed with his no-deal Brexit.
It’s been how many years now? The EU has yet to negotiate in good faith. Now Britain is expected to agree to a delay based on an empty statement by Macron? Has the EU dispatched Macron as an go-between emissary to negotiate an agreement to restart negotiations?
One month left for the EU to agree to a deal. You don’t wait for the final test day to finally show up for class. What have you guys been doing the past two years?
RE: “It’s been how many years now?”
Summer of 2016 and the UK voters overwhelmingly voted for
“Let my people go!” Uh…..3 years now since the vote to leave.
Micron (French nickname) lies?
Well we know who is the father of all lies……
I seem to recall that it wasn’t overwhelming, but it was a clear majority. Like 55-60% Leave to 40-45% Remain
I predict a second referendum would backfire on the EU and be a truly overwhelming majority for Brexit.
Time for Boris and Nigel to take their phones off the hook and wait for Manny and Angie to ask if it’s okay if they stop in for tea and crumpets some afternoon.
If it were up to me, I’d basically announce that the no-deal scenario is just fine while asking DJT to “leak” the “terms” of a bilateral trade deal with the US that goes into effect on November first.
Never underestimate the power of the French to surrender!
Be very careful about what to expect.
Let’s assume for a minute that Boris Johnson gets what he want’s. We don’t really know what he wants. He voted against May’s deal the first two times, but voted for it the last time saying it was better then no deal. After the Queens speech, Johnson can bring May’s deal up for a vote and this time in the panic it may pass.
Another thing he might do is negotiate a deal which is pretty much the same as May’s deal, but with slightly different language.
There are legal challenges which will probably fail. There are attempts to pass a law to force Johnson ask for an extension. Votes of no confidence. Calls for a general election. The possibility of the House of Lords filibuster in a no-deal brexit. All sorts of interesting stuff and rtight now my head is spinning.
Keep in mind that Bercow has been heavily antiBrexit. Who the hell knows what that guy will do?
I think Bercow will try to prevent a clean Brexit, but morally he shouldn’t. I’ll be impressed if he chooses country over the EU and tells the Europhiles “Order!!”
But I don’t know. Bercow even disciplined Johnson during his inaugural address to Parliament, something about waving his arms too much. He’s never said anything like that to the opposition.
What does this extension mean? An extension of time to consider the same unacceptable deal that’s far worse than no-deal Brexit?
Bercow is a very small man with a nasty personal habit. It isn’t going to end well for him.