Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May
UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan could leave Britain in a "long running" multiyear transition period, the London Times reported on Wednesday citing leaked documents seen by the newspaper.
According to the leaked documents, the plan "could in theory, lead to a long running IP (implementation period)" and the arrangement could last for many years on a "rolling" basis with an "annual decision point" where any transition extension is reviewed, the Times reported http://bit.ly/2EJ625L.
The documents were drawn up by May's principal Europe adviser, Oliver Robbins, on instructions from May's office, according to the report.
The Northern Irish party which props up British Prime Minister Theresa May will back an amendment proposed by rebel Brexiteer lawmakers that will effectively make the European Union's backstop proposal illegal, a Telegraph newspaper reporter said.Prominent Brexiteer Steve Baker, a former junior Brexit minister, will try to block the EU's backstop plan on Wednesday by attaching amendments to legislation passing through parliament that would effectively make the proposal illegal."DUP will back amendment being tabled by Tory Eurosceptics on Wednesday that will effectively make the EU’s NI backstop illegal," Steven Swinford, the Telegraph's deputy political editor, said."Yet another headache for No 10, with 40 Tory MP already poised to support it." Britain's FTSE rises on mining and financialsEuro rallies as Italian borrowing costs enjoy big dropIreland says Brexit transition extension can't be alternative to Irish backstop
Northern Irish DUP to back rebel Brexit amendment
The documents reveal that cabinet ministers have been presented with different models to work out what would happen if a trade deal to govern UK's future relationship with the EU was not reached by the end of the transition period, the Times said.
With just over five months until Britain is scheduled to leave the EU, Brexit talks have stalled over a disagreement on the so-called Northern Irish "backstop", an insurance policy to ensure there will be no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland if a future trading relationship is not agreed in time.
May again failed to clinch a deal at an EU summit last week and her decision to signal the possibility of extending a post-Brexit transition period, keeping Britain under EU governance with no say in it, to help end the deadlock, has angered both hardline supporters of Brexit and pro-EU lawmakers.
An extension to Britain's post-Brexit transition period cannot be an alternative to the "backstop" agreement governing the Irish border, Ireland's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Monday by the Irish Times newspaper."There will be no withdrawal agreement without the backstop, end of story," Coveney was quoted by the newspaper as saying when asked about a suggestion by Brexit minister Dominic Raab on Sunday that an extension could be an alternative to the backstop.Raab on Sunday said he would consider an extension on the condition that it would "solve the backstop issue so that falls away then as a possibility." UK Brexit minister Raab says open-minded on extending post-Brexit transition
Ireland says Brexit transition extension can't be alternative to Irish backstop