British officials must prepare for the possibility of “no deal” with the European Union on Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday.
“A responsible government must prepare for a range of possible outcomes, including the possibility of no deal,” May told the House of Commons. “At the same time, we should recognize that such a disorderly ‘no deal’ would have profound consequences for both the U.K. and the EU and I believe that the U.K. deserves better.”
May approached the parliamentarians with a proposal that she hopes might spark a new phase of negotiations over the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, which have progressed slowly even as the deadline for the exit approaches. But her pitch took place in the midst of resignations from her Cabinet, including the departure of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, the highest-profile proponent of the Brexit, who thinks May’s plan would leave the U.K. too close to the EU.
“Two years of sound bites, indecision, and Cabinet infighting culminating in a series of wasted opportunities,” Jeremy Corbyn, May’s liberal opposition leader, said Monday. “This government cannot secure a good deal for Britain.”
May is under pressure to execute an economically beneficial deal with the European Union, while maintaining enough distance from the EU to honor the Brexit vote to leave the bloc. That effort is complicated by the politics of Ireland, which is part of the EU, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Her difficulty in navigating those dynamics could expose her to a leadership challenge from Johnson, who is regarded as a more aggressive proponent of Brexit.
“What we are proposing is challenging for the EU,” May said. “It requires them to think again, to look beyond the positions they’ve taken so far, and agree [to] a new and fair balance of rights and obligations. Because that is the only way to meet our commitments to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, without damaging the constitutional integrity of the U.K., while respecting the result of the referendum.”
May faced repeated calls from the Labour Party opposition to develop a plan with their input, one that would defang much of the Brexit movement’s desire to leave the EU.
“She’s kept trying to pander to different parts of the conservative party and today has shown it just isn’t working,” said Yvette Cooper, a liberal lawmaker from northern England. “So will she instead put a plan for negotiations to the whole House of Commons for approval? Because when she’s in such a mess she cannot just keep standing there saying ‘Nothing has changed; nothing has changed.’ It has.”
May rebuffed those calls out of hand, but there were also signs of pressure from her right flank. “No deal,” as one member of her conservative coalition told her, is ‘an inaccurate term for moving to world trade terms on which we trade with the vast majority of the world.” The member, Owen Patterson, called it “a very welcome and sensible” outcome.
“What is the date by which she judges it’s a drop-dead moment to state that the talks are not progressing and we are definitely going to world trade terms?” Patterson asked.
May declined to answer directly. “Actually, it is not sensible to try to put a date on these matters in the way that he has said,” she replied.
