BREXIT: The British Prime Minister’s brexit plan has been rejected by European leaders …
The talks between London and Brussels are deadlocked , but Theresa May tries to reassure her party. The British Prime Minister will try on Wednesday to gather the Tories with a vision of optimistic Brexit , despite the uncertainties surrounding this hot issue.
“I believe passionately that the best is yet to come and that our future is full of promise,” says the leader at the closing of the congress of her Conservative Party meeting in Birmingham (central England) since Sunday, according to extracts from her speech transmitted in advance by his services. The head of the British government will present the Brexit as a “period of opportunity”, and ensure that her Checkers plan remains “in the national interest”.
The very divided Conservatives
This plan provides for a close economic relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU after divorce, by maintaining common rules on industrial goods and agricultural products. He was rejected by the European leaders, who asked Theresa May to review her copy by the next European summit on October 18th and 19th.
In Birmingham, the four days of the Congress exposed the divisions of the Tories. In the main auditorium of the Convention Center, the official events, at which the ministers spoke only, made a government that was determined to defend the Prime Minister and her proposal.
But in the adjoining halls, several influential MEPs, chiefly Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg, former Brexit Minister David Davis, and former British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson have called for a abandon this plan and instead propose a free trade agreement similar to that signed between the EU and Canada.
Checkers’ plan “is a betrayal,” said Boris Johnson in a speech to nearly 1,500 activists on Tuesday, during which he praised “the huge opportunities” offered by his counterproposal.
“The party is trying to keep May in power for as long as possible”
The battle for the leadership of the party, latent since the decline in the early parliamentary elections in June 2017, has nevertheless remained contained. No rival of the Prime Minister has positioned themselves frontally.
“For now, the party is trying to keep Theresa May in power for as long as possible,” AFP analyst Mark Garnett told AFP. “No potential candidate wants to take his place in such a difficult time.”
Because Theresa May, who has only a very small majority in Parliament, is at the mercy of a rebellion of his parliamentarians. But some want a clear break with the EU, while others claim on the contrary to remain as close as possible.
Several conservative Euro MPs for a second referendum
It must also take into account the position of its ally, the ultra-conservative Northern Ireland party DUP, whose 10 MPs contribute to an absolute majority in the House of Commons. “We can not have customs borders in the Irish Sea or regulatory borders, because it separates us from the rest of the UK,” said DUP chief Arlene Foster on Tuesday. She warned the government against any compromise that would strengthen controls over goods moving between the province of Ulster and the rest of the UK.
This question is the main source of blockage in the negotiations between London and Brussels. Considering that no agreement can be ratified by parliament, several conservative MEPs, including Justine Greening, Philip Lee or Anna Soubry, have taken a stand in favor of a second referendum on Brexit. But this scenario was strongly rejected by Downing Street.
In her quest for an agreement, Theresa May will not be able to count on any support from Labor. The main opposition party has announced that it will reject any plans by the government that would not maintain the benefits of the single European market and the customs union.
