May seeks last-minute Brexit breakthrough with UK opposition
Apr 03, 2019
May decided to tear up her steadfast negotiating strategy and seek Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's support in a moment of peril for both her country and government.
Prime Minister Theresa May was to meet Wednesday with Britain's main opposition party leader in a bid to forge a Brexit compromise that avoids a dreaded "no-deal" departure from the EU in nine days.
May decided to tear up her steadfast negotiating strategy and seek Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's support in a moment of peril for both her country and government.
Her divorce deal with the other 27 EU nations has been rejected three times by parliament and patience with London is wearing thin in Brussels as the 46-year partnership nears a potentially chaotic end.
The premier emerged from an intense seven-hour meeting with her ministers Tuesday to announce she would seek another "short" Brexit extension at an EU leaders' summit in Brussels on April 10.
She crucially added that she was now willing to bend her previous principles and would listen to proposals for much closer post-Brexit relations with the EU than most in her Conservative party are ready to accept.
"I think there are actually a number of areas that we agree on in relation to Brexit," May told a rowdy question-and-answer session in parliament.
"What we want to do now is to find a way forward that can command the support in this House and deliver on Brexit."
She specifically did not rule out remaining in a customs union with the European Union -- a key Labour demand that she has until now dismissed out of hand.
'Known Marxist'
The British premier's last-minute change of tack has been received cautiously by EU leaders who would love to see the agonising split resolved by the time European Parliament elections roll around at the end of May.
EU president Donald Tusk tweeted Tuesday that even if "we don't know what the end result will be, let us be patient".
But it enraged the staunchly pro-Brexit wing of her Conservative party and saw junior minister Nigel Adams resigned in protest at May's "grave error" in judgement.
Fervent EU critic Jacob Rees-Mogg said the prime minister's decision to seek an alliance with Corbyn meant she was collaborating with a "known Marxist".
But other prominent Brexit-backing ministers were holding their fire as all eyes turned on the outcome of May's first meaningful engagement with her top domestic rival in years.
Closer union
Corbyn has sought to keep Britain in a European customs union after Brexit enters into force.
May's government has previously rejected this because it would keep Britain from striking its own trade agreements with giant nations such as China and the United States.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said Wednesday that May was entering her talks with Corbyn "without preconditions".
Barclay said failure by May and Corbyn to reach a compromise would see the two sides try to come up with some mutually-acceptable options that would be put up for a vote in parliament in the coming days.
He said these would be "binding" on the government -- even if parliament came out in favour of the customs union being added to May's existing deal.
"Ultimately, if that is where the numbers of the House of Commons go, the government would -- in order to bring this to a resolution in the national interest -- would accept what the House voted for," Barclay said in reference to a customs union.
Fears ease
EU leaders have warned they will want clear answers from May in Brussels about what the new extension was for.
The timeframe she laid out Tuesday is meant to see Britain leave the bloc on May 22 -- the day before the first nations holds its European Parliament vote.
May's spokesman conceded that Britain would still probably have to prepare for elections just in case.
Britain must formally notify electoral authorities of its participation in the vote on April 11.
"But it's also the case that right up until the moment of the poll you can stop your participation," May's spokesman said.
Cross-party lawmakers will try to rush a law through the parliament later Wednesday aimed at making sure that Britain does not leave the bloc without a deal.
The British pound rallied Wednesday on expectations of the sides managing to avoid a messy breakup in the coming days.
"Not only did May reaffirm her opposition to no deal, she's technically opened the door to a softer Brexit," Oanda trading house analyst Craig Erlam told AFP.