Parliament sinks May's Brexit deal again, EU braces for no-deal exit

The following from timeslive:-

“Lawmakers rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third time on Friday, sounding its probable death knell and leaving Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in turmoil on the very day it was supposed to leave the bloc.

The decision to reject a stripped-down version of May's divorce deal has left it totally unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the EU, and plunges the three-year Brexit crisis to a deeper level of uncertainty.

After a special sitting of parliament, lawmakers voted 344-286 against May's 585-page EU Withdrawal Agreement, agreed after two years of tortuous negotiations with the bloc.

Within minutes of the vote, European Council President and summit chair Donald Tusk said EU leaders would meet on April 10 to discuss Britain's departure from the bloc.

The EU executive, the Commission, said that "a 'no-deal' scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario".

May had told parliament the vote was the last opportunity to ensure Brexit would take place. She cautioned that if the deal failed, then any further delay to Brexit would probably be a long one beyond April 12.

"I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House," May told parliament after the defeat. "The implications of the House’s decision are grave."

"The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 12th April," she said.

The British pound, which has been buoyed in recent weeks by hopes that the likelihood of an abrupt 'no-deal' Brexit is receding, fell half a percent after May lost, to as low as $1.2977.

THIRD FAILURE

It was a third failure for May, who had offered on Wednesday to resign if the deal passed, in a bid to win over eurosceptic rebels in her Conservative Party who support a more decisive break with the EU than the divorce her deal offers.

It leaves May's Brexit strategy in tatters. With no majority in parliament for any Brexit option so far, it is unclear what May will now do. Options include asking the EU for a long delay, parliament forcing an election, or a "no-deal" exit.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking as parliament voted, said the EU needed to accelerate no-deal planning.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters: "One of the two routes to an orderly Brexit seems now to be closed. This leaves only the other route, which is for the British to make clear what they want before April 12."

"The risk of a no-deal Brexit is very real," he said.

May's deal had twice been rejected by huge margins this year and, although she was able to win over many Conservative rebels, a hard core of eurosceptics and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which props up her minority government, refused to back it.

However, any further extension would not only require Britain to take part in European Parliament elections in May, but also bring months of fresh uncertainty.

A second referendum could then be in play, although many lawmakers believe the most likely outcome and only way to solve the crisis will be a snap election.

The 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU revealed a United Kingdom divided over many more issues, and has provoked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British.

Meanwhile the uncertainty around Brexit, the United Kingdom's most significant political and economic move since World War Two, has left allies and investors aghast.

Opponents fear Brexit will make Britain poorer and divide the West as it grapples with both the unconventional US presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.

Supporters say that, while the divorce might bring some short-term instability, in the longer term it will allow the United Kingdom to thrive "

Comments

The above story is a farce.   The fact is that there are two options mentioned by the politico's and by the Economic Elite and their  media partners -

*    a new referendum; and/or

*    a general election

A new referendum

What makes the new referendum supporters think that the result of any new referendum results would be any different from what is was in 2016.   In the 2016 referendum the media supported the Remain component constantly and every tactic possible was used to sway the electorate,   Will the same technique have different result this time?

In any event the tide has been turning against the EU and the Governments supporting the EU.   

*    In the Netherlands the situation is bad.  The Rutte Government lost badly in the recent Senate selections and there was massive growth in the support of the anti-EU parties   

*     Basically Italy now has a new Government comprising anti EU elements.   This Government comprises both left wing and rightwing parties and they are standing strong

*     France is in  chaos as the anti-EU parties are making huge support strdes

*     In Germany the EU skeptical parties now have 93 members in the Reichstag

What would that mean in a UK referendum?   The above happened despite a media battle against the anti-EU parties.   Would that be any different in the UK?

A Parliamentary Election

That could like in Italy and France means a wipe out of both the Conservative and Labour Parties.  Both are badly divided and there are stories about a Pro-Brexit party being formed in the UK.    The election would be dividing the pro-EU vote and the third party can walk away with the spoils.     

They would not dare call for an election now - it would be a fatal mistake.    

The only option if the referendum result is to be honored is clearly NO Deal. May's disgraceful deal keeps Britain in the EU subject to EU law, puts at risk N Ireland and leaves borders open while giving the UK no voice in the EU Parliament. How in the world is this Brexit.

The next move of the Globalists to to ask for a year's extension. B ut the EU globalist don't want Britain to vote in May. 

We shall see what happens. 

Globalists have a record of not honoring referendums eg Holland and Ireland and not accepting elections eg USA. 

If it was the only referendums the EU refused to recognize it would be unacceptable - but they also refused to recognize referendums in France (2005), Portugal and Greece.

That is why I say they are not interested in democracy - all they do is to threaten weak governments and the poor coalition governments succumb to their threats - normally related to economic destruction if the Governments do not obey whatever they want to do. 

It always has  to do with Germany threatening them with financial reprisals and since they all owe money to Germany they have to obey or else. .       

The British people want to be free and will NEVER accept Globalist Brussels rule as that means their destruction.

Come May the Globalists had better hope the UK are not participation. 

Many in Ireland are hating what is happening to their country under Globalist rule. 

The EU is a disaster and ordinary people are turning against it in droves. 

There will be even more dissent and feuding in the EU Parliament after May. 

A brand new Nationalist party in the Netherlands has just won the most seats of any party in the Upper Chamber. 

We shall see what happens. 

Saw a figure given that 80%

Of MPs campaigned on a Leave ticket yet these snakes were Remain all the time. Reminds one of the Rinos in the Stars. 

Ex GOP RINO Senator Jeff Flake has come out of the closet saying he hopes a Democrat will win the Presidency. The poor "darling" would not run again as he had virtually no support.

The USA has President Trump who has done a tremendous job outing the open border globalist demonrats and Rinos. Brexit and open borders have unmasked the European globalist enemies. Everywhere the Nationalist are growing stronger every day.

If you are British imagine what you think hearing your capital being called Londonistan!! That there are more foreigners that British people living there and your cities are become less British by the year.

Saw a figure given that 80%

Of MPs campaigned on a Leave ticket yet these snakes were Remain all the time. Reminds one of the Rinos in the Stars. 

Ex GOP RINO Senator Jeff Flake has come out of the closet saying he hopes a Democrat will win the Presidency. The poor "darling" would not run again as he had virtually no support.

The USA has President Trump who has done a tremendous job outing the open border globalist demonrats and Rinos. Brexit and open borders have unmasked the European globalist enemies. Everywhere the Nationalist are growing stronger every day.

If you are British imagine what you think hearing your capital being called Londonistan!! That there are more foreigners that British people living there and your cities are become less British by the year.

Beeno

Please write in English please.  After one term as Senator  Flake before the 2018 senatorial election realized his days as Senator was numbered and he did not run as a candidate in the Arizona Senate Race that year,

He always was a  maverick Republican with a record as spotty as Senator McCain who has often supported libertarian stances and was not welcomed and supported  by the Republican Party for 2018.    

Easy for him  to switch from being a  Republican Senator to work for CBS - who was always an anti-Republican news service.     I think he actually voted for Clinton in 2016 and for a DP candidate in 2018 to succeed him as Senator,   

So why carry on about him now - he has lost his significance as a Senator last year and  is of no real value to anything bar CBS at present,   May be a future US Ambassador to SA or Zimbabwe if the DP won the presidency sometime in future.   However, people generally dislike turncoats in politics and he is one of those.   .      .          

Beeno

Please write in English please.  After one term as Senator  Flake before the 2018 senatorial election realized his days as Senator was numbered and he did not run as a candidate in the Arizona Senate Race that year,

He always was a  maverick Republican with a record as spotty as Senator McCain who has often supported libertarian stances and was not welcomed and supported  by the Republican Party for 2018.    

Easy for him  to switch from being a  Republican Senator to work for CBS - who was always an anti-Republican news service.     I think he actually voted for Clinton in 2016 and for a DP candidate in 2018 to succeed him as Senator,   

So why carry on about him now - he has lost his significance as a Senator last year and  is of no real value to anything bar CBS at present,   May be a future US Ambassador to SA or Zimbabwe if the DP won the presidency sometime in future.   However, people generally dislike turncoats in politics and he is one of those.   .      .          

And the farce goes on as per the following newspaper  report from News24 on the issue:-

"Britain's parliament is deadlocked over plans to leave the European Union. The country's ruling Conservative Party is fractured by an undeclared leadership contest. Opposition parties are baying for an early general election.

A power vacuum has paralysed the heart of Britain's government, dismaying both the European Union and the British public.

In the next two weeks, British Prime Minister Theresa May will lead the UK through domestic and international negotiations that will decide the fate of Brexit and determine the future of generations. Her task, as it's been for almost three years, is to bridge the increasingly bitter divide that separates those who want to sever links with the EU and those who want to keep the ties that have bound Britain to the bloc for almost 50 years.

"In any other circumstance, they would have rolled her by now, either formally or informally," said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. "She's the default because no one else wants the job."

The power vacuum means May has almost no leverage as she tries to engineer a compromise with UK lawmakers who last week took control of the parliamentary agenda to debate alternatives to her Brexit deal, which has already been rejected by Parliament three times.

The House of Commons is scheduled to vote Monday on a variety of Brexit options, with two ideas — staying in the EU customs union and holding a second referendum on Brexit — emerging as the most likely alternatives.

Momentous decision

While Justice Secretary David Gauke said on Sunday the government would have to "very carefully consider" the wishes of Parliament, he also said May's EU divorce deal is still the best alternative. Gauke said the prime minister was "reflecting" on the possibility of bringing it back to Parliament for a fourth vote.

If the government can't bridge the gap by April 12, Britain will crash out of the EU without a plan for future relations, damaging its economy, undermining the country's unity and diminishing its stature in the world.

"I think it would be very, very bad news indeed," Gauke told the BBC. "I don't think the British people would thank us if we left without a deal."

May's political weakness stretches back to when she took office in July 2016, less than a month after Britain voted 52 percent to 48 percent in favor of leaving the EU.

Despite the close result on such a momentous decision, May did little to build consensus about what Britain's departure from the world's largest trading bloc should look like.

Instead, she set out her own red lines: Britain must end the free movement of people coming in, end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain and leave the European customs union so Britain could negotiate trade deals with other countries.

Disastrous early election 

Then, seeking to bolster the small majority left to her by her predecessor, David Cameron, May called a disastrous early election in which she lost 13 seats. That left May as the leader of a minority Conservative government and forced her into an alliance with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.

Though weakened, May kept Brexit strategy in the hands of the Conservative Party and more specifically her own advisers.

But Brexit cuts across traditional political lines. Both May's Conservatives and the opposition Labour party are split between those who want to sever links to the EU and those who want to remain close to the bloc. Even so, May has been reluctant to reach out to Labour for fear of deepening the split in her own party.

"She feels trapped politically," said Thomas Raines, head of the Europe program at the Chatham House think tank. "Each step she takes toward the Labour Party will lose her support on her right flank."

Complicating the equation is the staunch opposition of May's erstwhile allies in the DUP, which refuses to back her Brexit withdrawal deal because it treats Northern Ireland differently than the rest of the U.K., and the Scottish National Party, which wants to remain in the EU.

"Everyone is still convinced they can have their first choice outcome," Raines said. "They cannot see their way to a compromise."

Even if May is able to secure a withdrawal deal, more negotiations lie ahead because Britain and the EU still need to work out exactly what their future relationship will look like. In an effort to win support for her deal, May said she wouldn't lead those talks.

That has triggered a Conservative party beauty contest among possible successors, with newspapers offering odds on those vying for the top job.

Former Prime Minister John Major warned, though, that even changing leaders would do little to break the deadlock in Parliament.

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"Of course, a new leader may, depending upon who it is, have less baggage than a prime minister who's had to fight for everything from the moment she went into Downing Street," he told the BBC. "But it doesn't change the numbers. It doesn't change the arithmetic. It doesn't change the instincts and convictions of people both in the Remain and in the Leave camp."

That leaves the prospect of calling a general election in hopes of securing a stable majority government in Britain. Labour is eager to go to the voters and such a move might persuade the EU to extend the Brexit talks for a second time.

But most Conservatives are opposed, fearing they would be punished for three years of deadlock.

Alistair Burt, who resigned as foreign office minister after voting against May's Brexit deal, told Sky News he didn't think a new election would be helpful.

"We need to stick to this task that we have in relation to the European Union," he said. "Settle that and then move forward, offer the public the wide range of choices that political parties do ... let's get on with doing this job in the first place."

The fact is that the Parliament members from  both the Conservative and Labour Parties  who originally campaigned against Brexit is using their original stance to remain in the EU to undermine the referendum results,    They do not care a hoot about hat the people think and the way they voted in the referendum.

Will the CP as present Government ask the Queen to call for new elections - no they won't.    They do not know what the result would be and they may be punished severely for what is happening,   Labour is asking for a new General election followed by another Referendum  to nullify the outcome of the 2016 referendum.   The Scottish National Party also wants a second referendum on Scottish independence.   

Will repeated referendums solve the problems faced by the various parties and new elections save the situation,    The answer to all those is likely to be NO it will not,    

Any extension of the Brexit issue  will have an impact on the upcoming European Parliamentary elections to be held  in May,  If the Brexit negotiations is extended - the UK would have to vote in that elections and the EU does not want it.    Fact is the EU fears an increased level f support for the EU sceptics vote in that election that could threaten the future viability of the Brussels regime.   They also fear an exodus of nations from the EU should a realistic separation agreement is reached with the UK,  

The whole system in the UK is paralyzed and there is no way out for both parties,   If a new General Election is held  in the UK  both the major parties will continue their claim for support of Brexit  - which they never intend to implement anyway and the mess will continue because of asic political dishonesty.   

So another voting round in Parliament will produce nothing new and the circus will continue.