EU and UK agree on draft Brexit deal
> But May’s opponents vow to vote it down
LONDON: Britain struck a draft divorce deal with the European Union after more than a year of talks, thrusting Prime Minister Theresa May into a perilous battle over Brexit that could shape her country’s prosperity for generations to come.
While Brussels choreographs the first withdrawal of a sovereign state from the EU, May, a far from secure leader hemmed in by opponents in government and her own Conservative party, must now try to get the deal approved by her cabinet and, in the toughest test of all, by parliament.
Brexiteers in May’s party accused her of surrendering to the EU and said they would vote the deal down while the Northern Irish party which props up her minority government questioned whether she would be able to get parliamentary approval.
“These are momentous days and the decisions being taken will have longlasting ramifications,” said Arlene Foster, leader of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party which keeps the government in power.
“The prime minister must win the support of the cabinet and the House of Commons. “Every individual vote will count.” The British cabinet will meet early today to consider the draft withdrawal agreement, a Downing Street spokesman said after Irish and British media were leaked details of the agreement on the text.
A senior EU official confirmed that a draft text had been agreed on.
EU leaders could meet on Nov 25 for a summit to seal the Brexit deal if May’s cabinet approves the text, diplomatic sources said.
The EU and Britain need an agreement to keep trade flowing between the world’s biggest trading bloc and the United Kingdom, home to the biggest international financial centre.
Sterling, which has seesawed since reaching US$1.50 just before Britain’s 2016 referendum that saw a 52%-48% margin for leaving the EU, surged on news of a deal but then erased some gains as opponents lined up to criticise May.
Prominent Brexiteers such as Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg and former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said May had sold out the United Kingdom and that they would oppose it.
“It is a failure of the government’s negotiating position, it is a failure to deliver on Brexit, and it is potentially dividing up the UK,” Rees-Mogg said.
“It is vassal state stuff. Chuck it out,” Johnson said, adding that he would vote against such an unacceptable accord.
But Conservative lawmakers also have to factor in the implications of defeating a deal: to do so could topple May, delay Brexit, pave the way for a national election, or, as many opponents of Brexit hope, a new EU referendum.
The opposition Labour Party, which has said it would oppose any agreement that does not retain “the exact same” economic benefits that it now has with the EU, said it was unlikely the announced deal was right for Britain. – Reuters