EU INTERVENES ON BREXIT DEAL

SOUTH AFRICA – British Prime Minister Theresa May published further assurances from the EU on Monday, on the eve of a crucial parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal, and warned MPs that rejecting it would lead to ‘paralysis’ that could see Britain stay in the bloc.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk repeated in a letter that they would not reopen the divorce deal, but offered clarifications with ‘legal value’ on a controversial clause.

In a speech shortly afterwards in Stoke, a Brexit-backing city, May admitted their offer fell short of what she wanted. But she said: “I’m convinced that MPs now have the clearest assurances that this is the best deal possible and is worthy of their support.”
May had promised assurances on the so-called Irish backstop arrangement when she postponed a vote on the agreement in December, facing certain defeat in the House of Commons.

Deal

As MPs prepared to finally cast their judgment yesterday evening, large numbers of her own Conservative MPs and her Northern Irish allies are still strongly opposed.
In a further setback, government whip Gareth Johnson — a Brexiteer and one of the officials charged with getting MPs to vote for the deal — announced his resignation.

“I have concluded that I cannot, in all conscience, support the government’s position when it is clear this deal would be detrimental to our nation’s interests,” he wrote.
Meanwhile anti-Brexit MPs have stepped up efforts to tie the government’s hands in parliament to avoid the damaging prospect of Britain leaving the EU on March 29 with no deal.
May repeated that the only way to avoid a ‘no deal’ was to support her agreement, saying ‘if no deal is as bad as you believe it is, it will be the height of recklessness to do anything else’.
But with growing calls to delay Brexit or call a second referendum, she said: “It’s now my judgment that a more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no Brexit.”

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