Wednesday, March 27, 2019

No-deal Brexit ‘Increasingly Likely,’ Senior EU Officials Say
Morning Star, London

Protestors both for and against Brexit face off outside Westminster in London today

A NO-DEAL Brexit next month is becoming “increasingly likely,” the European Commission said today.

Senior EU officials said they had completed their preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit if Britain leaves without an approved Withdrawal Agreement by April 12.

Theresa May told the Commons that there was “still not sufficient support” among MPs to bring her Withdrawal Agreement back for a third “meaningful vote” this week before the original exit date of March 29 — this Friday.

The Prime Minister acknowledged she had been told by Speaker John Bercow that convention means she cannot return it for another vote unless it is “fundamentally different in terms of substance.”

Earlier in the day, her phone call with DUP leader Arlene Foster failed to result in the party’s support for her twice-rejected deal.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said in response to her statement: “The government’s approach to Brexit has now become a national embarrassment.

“After two years of failure, broken promise after broken promise, the Prime Minister finally accepted the inevitable last week and voted to extend Article 50 and went to Brussels to negotiate.

“Last week’s summit represented another negotiating failure for the Prime Minister — her proposals were rejected and new terms were imposed on her.”

He slammed her deal as “dead” and urged her to look for an alternative plan that focuses on jobs and safeguarding of rights.

Adding Labour would be supporting Tory MP Oliver Letwin’s amendment that would allow MPs to seize control of parliamentary business, Mr Corbyn demanded that Ms May support plans for indicative votes that would take place tomorrow.

He said: “She cannot both accept her deal does not have the numbers and stand in the way of finding an alternative that may have the numbers.”

The PM said that any passed indicative votes would not be binding on the government.

Mr Corbyn also criticised Ms May’s “wholly inappropriate” Downing Street speech last week that took place after an EU summit that led to the EU stating that Article 50 could be extended to April 12 or May 22.

He said she should not have tried to “pit the people against MPs” for her widely unpopular deal’s failure to pass through the Commons.

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