Brexit: Parliament to vote on
leaving the EU without a deal
 |
| Pro-Brexit supporters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament |
Britain’s parliament will vote later today on whether to
leave the European Union on March 29th without an agreement as the EU warns
that the risk of a disorderly Brexit has never been higher. The latest vote
comes exactly a day after British lawmakers once again heavily rejected the
government’s Brexit deal.
By Susy Hodges
Britain’s political crisis has deepened after Prime Minister
Theresa May’s revised EU withdrawal deal was defeated on Tuesday by a margin of
149 votes, leaving the country facing a range of scenarios just over 2 weeks
from the legal date for Brexit.
In another vote today, British lawmakers are expected to
reject a no-deal Brexit although it will have no legal force. May has said her
party’s lawmakers can make up their own minds rather than following orders from
party managers which is an unusual move for a vote on a major policy. If
as expected, parliament votes to reject the no-deal option then a further vote is
scheduled for Thursday on whether to ask the EU for a delay to Brexit. However,
any delay is something to which all the other 27 members of the EU must agree.
The bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said
the EU would need to know why Britain wanted to extend talks on Brexit. Warning
that the risk of a no-deal has never been higher, he said it was now up to
Britain to find a way out of the current deadlock. Barnier said the EU had gone
as far as it possibly could to address lawmakers’ concerns over the Brexit
deal, especially in relation to the contentious Northern Irish backstop
provision. This is the insurance policy to prevent a hard border on the
island of Ireland which is deeply unpopular with many pro-Brexit lawmakers.
Ahead of today’s parliamentary vote, the government
announced that it would eliminate tariffs on a wide range of goods in the event
of a no-deal Brexit. Following Tuesday’s defeat of her Brexit plan, May said
lawmakers would have to decide whether they want to delay Brexit, hold another
referendum or whether they want to leave the EU with a deal but not hers.
If no alternative way forward is found, the default position
remains that Britain will leave the EU on March 29th . It’s a
scenario that business leaders warn would bring chaos to markets and supply
chains and could cause shortages of food and medicines. In the meantime, the
uncertainty continues and many are wondering whether the British parliament
will ever reach a consensus on how to find a way out of the current turmoil.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét