LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa
May vowed on Monday to stick to her draft European Union divorce
deal as dissenting lawmakers in her own party tried to trigger a
leadership challenge.
Since striking a deal with the EU on Tuesday, May has faced
the most perilous crisis of her premiership with several cabinet
ministers resigning, including her Brexit minister.
May has pledged to fight on, warning that toppling her risks
delaying Britain's exit from the EU, or leaving without a deal,
a step that could thrust the world's fifth largest economy into
the unknown.
Even if she stays in place, the level of opposition from
eurosceptics in her own Conservative ranks has made clear how
hard it will be to get the deal through parliament.
"We have in view a deal that will work for the UK and, let
no one be in any doubt, I am determined to deliver it," May said
in a speech to Britain's premier business lobby, the CBI, to
loud applause. "We are not talking about political theory but
the reality of people's lives and livelihoods.
"While the world is changing fast, our geography is not:
Europe will always be our most proximate goods market, and
ensuring we have free-flowing borders is crucial," May said,
citing the importance of the automotive industry in particular.
"FAIR AND BALANCED"
The EU is due to hold a summit to discuss the draft deal on
Nov. 25. Some eurosceptic ministers in May's cabinet are
reported to want to rewrite parts of it, though EU governments
have largely ruled this out.
The EU's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, called the draft
"fair and balanced" and offered the orderly exit in March that
would form a basis for a future trade deal.
May said she wanted any Brexit transition, during which
Britain will remain a member in all but name and voting rights,
to have ended by the time of the next national election, due in
2022. The EU has signalled it could accept Britain
extending the transition by up to two years from December 2020.
Barnier met ministers from the 27 EU governments in Brussels
as they try to complete a separate, non-binding "declaration" on
plans for a trade and security relationship with
Britain that May would agree at a summit in Brussels on Sunday.
Diplomats said many pushed national interests to be included
- France on fishing rights, for example, or Spain's claim to
Gibraltar. But there was little concern these would
scupper prospects for a text to be ready by Tuesday.
Where there was disagreement among the 27, they said, issues
would be put to one side until talks start with Britain next
year. May has said she will visit Brussels to discuss the
declaration before Sunday.
More than two years after the United Kingdom voted by 52-48% to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, on what terms
or even if it will leave as planned on March 29, 2019.
Many business chiefs and investors fear politics could
torpedo an agreement, thrusting the economy into a no-deal void
that they say would weaken the West, spook financial markets and
silt up the arteries of trade.
CBI President John Allan said such a Brexit would be a
"wrecking ball" for Britain's economy while CBI Director-General
Carolyn Fairbairn said politicians were playing a high-stakes
game that could lead to an accidental, no-deal departure.
"Surely, surely, we can do better than this," she said.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the business
leaders that his party would not countenance a no-deal Brexit
but would also vote against May's Brexit blueprint.
"After the events of the past week, many people and many
businesses will be confused and very, very anxious," Corbyn said
in a speech. "The prime minister has negotiated a botched,
worst-of-all-worlds deal which is bad for Britain, leaving the
country in an indefinite halfway house without a real say."
CHALLENGE?
Asked about the unpopularity of her deal among many in her
Conservative Party, May said voters should listen to business.
However, Conservative rebels who say the deal will leave
Britain in indefinite subjugation to the EU, in part through a
continued customs union of uncertain duration, are attempting to
trigger a vote of no confidence in her leadership.
The chairman of the party's "1922 Committee", Graham Brady,
said on Sunday the threshold of 48 letters from MPs had not yet
been reached. He also said that if there were a vote, May would
win. The Sun newspaper said the rebels were six letters short.
One of them, Simon Clarke, told BBC radio: "This day must be
the point at which ... action is taken."
But by 6pm on Monday, there was no sign of a
formal challenge. Sterling, which has fluctuated wildly in
response to the political turmoil, was flat at $1.2860.
Since she won the top job in the turbulence that followed
the 2016 Brexit referendum, May's premiership has been
characterised by obduracy in the face of frequent crises.
Her biggest challenge will be getting the deal through
parliament. The DUP, a small Northern Irish party that props up
her minority government, has threatened to pull its support
because the deal could end up treating Northern Ireland - given
the goal of keeping its land border with EU member state Ireland
open - differently from the rest of the United Kingdom.