RTTue, 02 Apr 2019 17:10 UTC
© Reuters / Thilo SchmuelgenFILE PHOTO: Brexit caricature being prepared for 2018 Rose Monday parade in Cologne
British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will try to avoid a no-deal Brexit by meeting with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and requesting a 'further extension' from the EU.
Speaking at Number 10 on Tuesday, May said the extension would be "
as short as possible" and would come to an end when a deal was made.
May said she understood that people were fed up and wanted to leave the EU without a deal, but said she supported reaching a deal and offered to sit down with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to come up with a workable plan.
May said that a plan agreed between her and Corbyn
would be put to MPs for their approval and then taken to the European Council next week. If the two party leaders can't agree on an approach, May said various options would be put before the House of Commons to be voted on and promised that the government would accept the decisions of parliament, but only if Labour did too.
On Monday evening, British lawmakers rejected four alternative Brexit proposals, including a permanent customs union with the EU, continued participation in the EU single market, a public vote to confirm any Brexit deal and the revoking of Article 50 in the face of a no-deal Brexit.
EU leaders are planning to hold an emergency summit on April 10 to consider allowing a further delay to Brexit, which was pushed back from March 29 to April 12. Brussels' chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday that a no-deal exit is becoming more and more likely
"day after day."
Comment: More from RT reports:
Corbyn says he's 'very happy' to meet May to hammer out Brexit plan, others not so sure
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he would be "very happy" to meet Prime Minister Theresa May after she suggested the two should sit down to agree on a new plan to ensure a no-deal Brexit is avoided.
Commenting shortly after May gave a speech at 10 Downing Street about the way forward for Brexit, Corbyn said he recognized that the PM had "made a move" and that he would meet with her.
"I recognise my responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn't support Labour but nevertheless want certainty and security for their own future - and that's the basis on which we will meet her and we will have those discussions," Corbyn said.
It wasn't all friendly gestures, however. Corbyn also said that Labour "reserved the right" to bring a motion of no-confidence in May's government if it proves it is "incapable of commanding a majority in the House of Commons" - but "time will tell" on that front, he said.
The response to May's speech has sparked some angry reaction in her own Conservative Party, with hardline Brexiteer MP Jacob Rees-Mogg lashing out at her plan to delay Brexit for a second time in order to work with Labour. Rees-Mogg said May's move was "deeply unsatisfactory" and "not in the interests of the country."
"You do find that leaders who decide to go with the opposition rather than their own party find that their party do not tamely follow," he added.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was also unenthusiastic about May's latest plan and her promise to make the Brexit delay time "as short as possible." Sturgeon said this was a "potential trap" and that the sensible way forward would be for Britain to take part in upcoming European elections and then to seek a longer delay and allow for a public vote on whatever parliament agrees.
A spokesperson for May said the government was hoping to avoid taking part in European parliamentary elections, however.
Meanwhile, former British foreign secretary and Brexiteer Boris Johnson also weighed in, saying May's new course of action would mean key law-making powers could end up being "handed over to Brussels."
"As it is, we now face the ridiculous possibility of being forced to contest the European elections more than three years after [voting to] leave the EU and having to agree to exit terms that in no way resemble what the people were promised when they voted to leave," he said.
See also:
And check out SOTT radio's:
"Brexit the Neverending Story" How to dip, duck and subvert the will of the people with an encore pretension by one of it's illustrious members, who other than Macron himself.
The denial of the vote by the people, and how the political system of the UK has denied the voice of the people brought a constitutional crisis for the political system in the UK. It gives some degree of amusement, but in reality they are nothing more than talking heads, from May to Macron and lets us not forget the leader of the circus troupe Merkel.
Well as they saying goes, "It's not over until the Fat Lady Sings".. Well from where I sit there is no Fat Lady in the UK nor in the EU.
So the show must go on.