Britain's PM Theresa May
British Prime Minister Theresa May has warned rebels in her party that the alternative to her potential Brexit deal with the EU is no deal.
The United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29 and yet little is clear: There is, so far, no full exit agreement and some rebels in May's Conservative Party have threatened to vote down a deal if she clinches one.
"I think that the alternative to that will be having no deal," May told BBC TV.
The main sticking point to agreeing a deal between Britain and the EU is the issue of ensuring there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit.
The Times newspaper reported that the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, is working on a new protocol text outlining how to use technology to minimise checks on the border.
Under the EU plan, goods could be tracked using barcodes on shipping containers under "trusted-trader" schemes administered by registered companies, the Times reported.
Reuters reported on Sept. 12 that EU officials were working on a sensitive Irish protocol to the draft Brexit treaty with Britain, as part of what Barnier has called efforts to "de-dramatise" the issue and get a deal.
The proposals are to be circulated to European governments after the Conservative Party conference which starts on Sept. 30, according to the Times.
The "revised draft of the Northern Ireland protocol", according to a diplomatic note of talks between EU ambassadors, will propose that most new checks would not happen at any border, the Times said.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for another referendum on Britain's European Union membership, adding his backing to an idea known as a "People's Vote".Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29. But with Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans still not accepted, some lawmakers, as well as union and business leaders are increasingly arguing for people to have a final say on any deal struck with Brussels.May has repeatedly ruled out holding a second referendum following the vote two years ago to leave the EU. She says members of parliament will get to vote on whether to accept any final deal.The intervention in favour of a second referendum from Khan, a senior member of Britain's opposition Labour Party, will put more pressure on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to also support the second referendum idea.Labour is due to start its four-day annual party conference in a week's time.Writing in Sunday's Observer newspaper, Khan blamed the government's handling of the negotiations and said the threat to living standards, the economy and jobs was too great for voters not to have a say."This means a public vote on any Brexit deal obtained by the government, or a vote on a 'no-deal' Brexit if one is not secured, alongside the option of staying in the EU," he wrote in the newspaper.
London mayor calls for second referendum on Brexit
Britain's former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has said he supports Prime Minister Theresa May and his opposition was not to her but to her proposals for exiting the European Union, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday.Following a week in which reports surfaced of a plot by Johnson's fellow eurosceptic colleagues to oust May, Johnson, bookmakers' favourite to succeed her, was quoted as saying he wanted her Chequers Brexit plan dropped, not her."It's not about the leadership. It's about the policy. It's not about changing prime minister. It's about chucking Chequers," he is reported to have told the newspaper at an event in Washington D.C. in the United States.Britain and EU 'closing in' on a Brexit agreement, Raab saysJohnson quit as foreign secretary in July after May's Chequers proposal, named after a country house where it was put forward. It called for the free trade of goods with the EU, with Britain accepting a "common rulebook" that would apply to those goods.Opponents of the plan, like Johnson, say that would leave Britain subject to decisions made in Brussels without any input.Since May's botched bet on a snap election in June 2017 lost her party its majority in parliament, she has faced persistent talk of a leadership challenge which has weakened her as she tries to clinch a Brexit deal with the EU.UK court rules against electoral watchdog in Brexit spending rowThe United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29. The EU and Britain hope to clinch a deal later this year so parliaments on both sides can ratify it before Brexit.Britain's opposition Labour Party created another headache for May on Friday, when one of its senior lawmakers told the Financial Times that the party would vote against any Brexit deal she reaches, predicting that the lack of a viable exit from the EU would force May from office before Christmas.EU leaders to discuss November Brexit summit next week
British ex-Foreign Minister Johnson says supports May, opposes her Brexit plan
Britain and the European Union are "closing in" on a withdrawal agreement, Brexit minister Dominic Raab said on Friday, ahead of a meeting by European leaders in Salzburg next week.Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29 but is yet to reach a full exit deal with Brussels and some rebels in Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party have threatened to vote against any agreement unless she changes her proposals.Both London and Brussels are hoping to reach a deal by mid-November. May has said next week's informal EU summit will be a "staging post" in the negotiations that will allow the bloc's leaders to discuss her Brexit plans for the first time."While there remain some substantive differences we need to resolve, it is clear our teams are closing in on workable solutions to the outstanding issues in the Withdrawal Agreement, and are having productive discussions in the right spirit on the future relationship," Raab said after a phone call with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier."We reiterated our willingness to devote the necessary time and energy to bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion," he said, adding that the pair agreed to take stock again following the Salzburg summit.Barnier issued no statement and an EU official described the call as having “taken stock of the ongoing negotiations”.EU leaders to discuss November Brexit summit next weekRoche boss says Brexit and curbs on drug use pose threat to UK scienceOn Thursday the government published a set of advice notices for Britons on how to prepare for the possibility of a "no-deal" Brexit, and May held a meeting of her top team of ministers to discuss the government's plans for leaving without an agreement.Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told the meeting Britain's property market would crash and mortgage rates spiral up in the event of a chaotic no-deal Brexit, with house prices falling 35 percent over three years, the Times newspaper reported.The Co-Operative, Britain's sixth-largest supermarket group, said it could not guarantee shortages of some food products would be avoided in the event of a no-deal Brexit.Pro-Brexit rebels in May's party have become increasingly vocal in their opposition to her Brexit proposals this week, with one former junior minister saying 80 or more of May's lawmakers were prepared to vote against them.The opposition Labour Party's foreign affairs spokeswoman Emily Thornberry told the Financial Times her party was set to vote against any Brexit deal and the lack of a viable exit from the EU would force May from office before Christmas. EU tells Britain it won't renegotiate Brexit divorce billUK PM May says 'position change' on divorce payment if no Brexit dealBrexit rebels make proposals on Irish border issue
Britain and EU 'closing in' on a Brexit agreement, Raab says
British and European Union negotiators are "closing in on workable solutions" to the outstanding issues in Brexit talks, Britain's Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said after a phone call with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier."While there remain some substantive differences we need to resolve, it is clear our teams are closing in on workable solutions to the outstanding issues in the Withdrawal Agreement, and are having productive discussions in the right spirit on the future relationship," Raab said."Looking ahead, we agreed to review the state of play in the negotiations following the informal meeting of heads of state or government of the European Union in Salzburg next Thursday, and we reiterated our willingness to devote the necessary time and energy to bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion." UK court rules against electoral watchdog in Brexit spending rowBritish prison officers protest against violence in jails'Bank of England prepared for wide range of Brexit outcomes'
Brexit talks 'closing in on workable solutions,' Raab says