«Breaking News» Theresa May begs Brussels to make concessions on the backstop

Theresa May today warned MPs to back her deal or risk waving goodbye to Brexit forever as she launched her last-ditch effort to convince naysayers and Brussels to break the deadlock telling them: 'Let's get it done'.

The Prime Minister is in Grimsby - a seat where 71 per cent of people voted to leave the EU - on the day Mrs May was told to come up with a new solution to the Irish backstop problem.  

Without a huge swing in her favour MailOnline research has revealed that she will lose by almost 100 votes on Tuesday - and urged Brussels to give negotiations 'one more push' this weekend and get her deal over the line.

In a direct plea to Tory Brexiteers and Labour rebels opposed to her deal the PM said today: 'Back it and the UK will leave the European Union. Reject it and no one knows what will happen. We may never leave at all. If MPs reject the deal nothing is certain. It would be a moment of crisis'.

She added: 'Brexit does not belong to the MPs in Parliament - it belongs to the people of this country. Everybody wants to get it done'. 

And in a direct plea to the EU she said: 'Now is the moment to act. We have worked hard together. It needs just one more push to give Parliament what they have asked for'. 

The PM also used her crucial speech to point the finger at Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he wants a second referendum and accused him of only offering an hour of her time in the past five weeks to find a cross-party solution to the Brexit stalemate at Westminster.

Theresa May is begging Brussels for concessions on the Irish border backstop today amid fears she will not be able to hold last minute talks because there is no deal

Theresa May faces another defeat of almost 100 votes on Tuesday even if she gets back around half of the Tory rebels from last time 

Mrs May is said to be considering a last minute trip to Brussels to meet Jean-Claude Juncker and before that will make a frantic round of calls to EU leaders as she begs Brussels to give ground. 

She also urged member of the Tory ERG Brexiteer group, which includes Jacob Rees-Mogg, to change their minds and save her deal from another humbling defeat on Tuesday night. 

Delay Brexit for a year, John Major says  

Former Prime Minister Sir John Major today called for Brexit to be delayed by a year.

Sir John said the 'risk of confusion and chaos is very high' with just 21 days until Britain is due to quit the EU.

In a letter to The Times, said a longer extension of 12 months would be more valuable than the short-term delayed discussed so far.

He said: 'Leaving the EU would be turbulent.

'But logic, common sense and the national interest suggest that an extension of one year would give us the time to depart with dignity and grace, and in good order.' 

MPs will vote on the prospect of delay next Thursday if the Brexit deal is voted down a second time.

Any motion is not expected to be specific on how long a delay should be because it will be subject to negotiation with the EU.  

In her speech today, Mrs May warned Brussels: 'Just as MPs will face a big choice next week, the EU has to make a choice too. We are both participants in this process.

'It is in the European interest for the UK to leave with a deal. We are working with them but the decisions that the European Union makes over the next few days will have a big impact on the outcome of the vote.'  

The Prime Minister spoke last night to the leaders of Bulgaria, Denmark and Portugal and her spokeswoman said calls would continue 'tonight and through the weekend'.

The frenzy of diplomatic activity came as Attorney General Geoffrey Cox axed a planned trip back to the EU capital today as technical talks have failed to bridge the huge gap between London and Brussels. 

Talks have foundered on Britain's demand it be able to get out of the backstop in Northern Ireland if trade negotiations fail because the EU says this is when it is needed most.

In Brussels, the EU summoned all 27 ambassadors for an update on Brexit. Failure to get any new concessions means Mrs May almost certainly faces a repeat of the crushing defeat of her deal on Tuesday night.

The PM must have a deal by the early hours of Monday morning if she is to present anything new to MPs at the vote on Tuesday - and could still fly to Brussels before dawn that day if there is hope of a breakthrough.  

Downing Street had hoped she would fly to Brussels to seal a deal on Sunday but the plans have faded as talks stalled again.   

Ahead of the speech, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned future generations will blame the EU if it fails to come to an agreement.

He told the Today programme: 'This is a moment of change in our relationship between the UK and the EU and history will judge both sides very badly if we get this wrong.

'We want to remain the best of friends with the EU. That means getting this agreement through in a way that doesn't inject poison into our relations for many years to come. 

The PM said that talks are going to the wire and claims that the EU has the power to end the deadlock

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has axed a planned trip back to the EU capital today as technical talks have failed to bridge the huge gap between London and Brussels

Ahead of the speech, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned future generations will blame the EU if it fails to come to an agreement

EU negotiator Michel Barnier has refused to give ground on the Irish border backstop part of the divorce deal 

How the numbers stack up against the PM's deal 

AYE VOTES 273 

Government payroll vote and the Tory Loyalists on January 15: 198 (unchanged)

The Ministers and Tory MPs who voted for the deal last time are expected to vote Yes again. George Eustice and Alberto Costa resigned from the Government but both will vote for the deal. 

Returning Brexiteers: 61 (up 61)

Everything turns on how many Tory rebels return to vote for the deal. Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, has led the charge saying he is ready to return with changes to the backstop.

Labour rebels: 10 (up seven)

The effort to convert Labour MPs to save the deal looks to have mostly failed. Just three backed it last time and a package of money for struggling towns and workers’ rights has convinced few.

Independents: 4 (up one)

A handful of Eurosceptic independent MPs voted for the deal last time and will do so again. Ian Austin has left the Labour party and is now in the independent – but not the TIG – column.

NO VOTES:  365

Tory Brexit Rebels: 46 (down 61)

Many hardcore Brexiteers who hate the deal will not be persuaded to return. This is the battleground: if the European Research Group says no, the rebels will consign May to a second painful defeat.

Tory Remain Rebels: 8 (down 3) 

Pro-EU Tory MPs who voted against the deal last time are likely to do so again. They include former ministers such as Jo Johnson and Sam Gyimah. Most back a second referendum. Three of the group went to TIG.  

DUP: 10 (unchanged)

May’s DUP allies are waiting to see what Geoffrey Cox agrees in Brussels. They loath the border backstop and without legally binding changes will vote against the deal for a second time.

Labour: 233 (down 13)

Labour has vowed to vote against the Brexit deal for a second time – both to pursue its own plans and in theory now to get a second referendum on the deal. Most Labour MPs will follow orders.

The Independent Group: 11 (up 11)

The defectors from the Labour and Tory ranks all voted against the deal last time and they will do so again. All of them want a new referendum on leaving the EU.

SNP: 35 (unchanged)

The SNP is deeply opposed to Brexit and will continue to vote against the deal. It wants Brexit stopped and sees political advantage in a new referendum to boost its independence hopes.

Others: 22 (unchanged)

An assortment of Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, Green and Independent MPs who are broadly anti-Brexit. They voted no last time and will do so again.

'That's what the UK has said we want to do, it's what most people in the UK want and feel very strongly about.

'But it does need the EU also to be flexible in these negotiations and understand that we now have a very, very clear ask.

'We know what it would take to get a deal through the House of Commons, and that is for a significant change to allow the Attorney General to change his advice to the Government and say we couldn't be trapped in a customs union forever.

'That's not an unreasonable thing to ask and we have made, I think, some progress in the last few days. There's a bit more to make. It's entirely possible to get there.

'And frankly I think future generations, if this ends in acrimony, will say that the EU got this moment wrong. And I really hope they don't.' 

If MPs reject the deal for a second time on Tuesday night, the Commons will then vote on no deal on Wednesday and delaying Brexit on Thursday. 

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: 'It's becoming increasingly clear that Theresa May will not be able to deliver the changes she promised to her failed Brexit deal.

'This speech looks set to be an admission of failure.'

International Trade Secretary Dr Fox urged Tory Brexiteers to rally behind the deal in order to ensure the UK does break away from Brussels.

'The thing that I fear is that there will be … a risk that we might not deliver Brexit at all,' he told BBC's Newsnight.

'In Parliament there are a large number of MPs who do not see it as their primary objective to deliver on the referendum and would want to keep us locked to the European Union.'

In a message to fellow Brexiteers, he added: 'You can never allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good, many of us have made compromises throughout this process.

'The quicker we can rally behind a common position that shows we have a united front in terms of how we want to approach the future, the better.'

But European Research Group deputy chairman Mark Francois told Newsnight: 'We will look very carefully at what – if anything – comes back from Brussels and then we will take a decision.

'But if it is some very minor, meaningless tweak then of course we will vote against it.'

Negotiators are preparing to work through the weekend in a frantic effort to break the deadlock over the backstop measures, which are aimed at preventing a hard border with Ireland if no alternative trading arrangements are in place.

The European Commission confirmed 'technical talks' were continuing and said president Jean-Claude Juncker was 'available 24/7' to meet Mrs May if a deal was close.

In the Commons, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox – who has been leading for the UK in the latest negotiations – said the talks would 'almost certainly' carry on through the weekend.

In practical terms the Government needs an agreement by Sunday night at the latest as any new documentation relating to the deal must be published by Monday – the day before the vote.

Number 10 is believed to hope a deal can be reached by Sunday night, with the possibility of the Prime Minister travelling to Brussels on Monday morning to meet Mr Juncker.

Ministers were said to be braced for another heavy defeat on Tuesday after the previous 'meaningful vote' was lost by a majority of 230, with many MPs deeply unhappy about the backstop.

But European Research Group deputy chairman Mark Francois told Newsnight (left last night) a minor change would not win Brexiteer rebels over 

Mr Cox told MPs he was continuing to press for legally binding changes to the backstop that would ensure the UK could not be tied indefinitely to EU rules.

He rejected claims that the Government had again failed to come forward with concrete proposals, insisting there had been 'focused, detailed and careful discussions'.

However there was clear frustration on the EU side, with chief negotiator Michel Barnier reportedly complaining that Mr Cox had produced 'a legal solution to a political problem' and France's Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau saying they were still waiting for a 'sustainable proposal' from the British side.

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/08/theresa-may-begs-brussels-to-make-concessions-on-the-backstop/
Main photo article Theresa May today warned MPs to back her deal or risk waving goodbye to Brexit forever as she launched her last-ditch effort to convince naysayers and Brussels to break the deadlock telling them: ‘Let’s get it done’.
The Prime Minister is in Grimsby – a seat where 71 per...

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Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca





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