UK government warns it might not hold pivotal Brexit vote
LONDON: British leader Theresa May's government warned Sunday it might not hold a planned Brexit vote this week unless it feels it can secure a win that avoids a lengthy delay to pulling out of the EU.
London has been paralysed by political inaction and chaos as it barrels toward the March 29 end of its 46-year involvement in the bloc without a plan. Parliament has twice resoundingly rejected the separation terms May reached with the other 27 EU leaders at the end of last year.
She doggedly vowed to bring them back by Wednesday for a third vote that -- if it succeeds -- would see her ask her European counterparts for a "technical" Brexit extension until the end of June. But May cautioned Sunday that another defeat would almost certainly require a delay so long that Britain would have to take part in European Parliament elections in May. This would mean "we will not leave the EU for many months, if ever," May wrote in The Sunday Telegraph.
Two top ministers then warned that May might hold another vote only if she felt confident of winning over rebellious members of her own party and its Northern Irish coalition partners the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
"It would be difficult to justify having a vote if you knew you were going to lose it," International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told Sky News. "We will only bring the deal back if we are confident that enough of our colleagues and the DUP are prepared to support it so that we can get it through parliament," finance minister Philip Hammond said on the BBC.
"I mean we are not just going to keep presenting it if we haven´t moved the dial." Some European ministers have suggested postponing Brexit until the end of 2020. A delay of 21 months could give Britain time to decide to either keep much closer EU ties or have Brexit reversed in a new national poll -- two possibilities welcomed by a range of European officials. The 27 other EU leaders will discuss their Brexit options at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
-
Pentagon Threatens To Cut Ties With Anthropic Over AI Safeguards Dispute -
Meghan Markle's Father Shares Fresh Health Update -
Travis Kelce Takes Hilarious Jab At Taylor Swift In Valentine’s Day Post -
NASA Confirms Arrival Of SpaceX Crew-12 Astronauts At The International Space Station -
Can AI Bully Humans? Bot Publicly Criticises Engineer After Code Rejection -
Search For Savannah Guthrie’s Abducted Mom Enters Unthinkable Phase -
Imagine Dragons Star, Dan Reynolds Recalls 'frustrating' Diagnosis -
Steve Jobs Once Called Google Over Single Shade Of Yellow: Here’s Why -
Barack Obama Addresses UFO Mystery: Aliens Are ‘real’ But Debunks Area 51 Conspiracy Theories -
Selma Blair Explains Why Multiple Sclerosis 'isn't So Scary' -
Will Smith Surprises Wife Jada Pinkett With Unusual Gift On Valentine's Day -
Shamed Andrew Has Paid Royal Favours With ‘national Scandal’ -
Prince William Ticked Off By How Andrew ‘behaved With Staff’ -
Prince William Questions Himself ‘what’s The Point’ After Saudi Trip -
James Van Der Beek's Friends Helped Fund Ranch Purchase Before His Death At 48 -
King Charles ‘very Much’ Wants Andrew To Testify At US Congress