The internal division of the Government May on the ‘backstop’ to prevent the return to the frontier ‘takes’ on the island reactive to the uncertainty in the final stretch of the negotiations with Brussels
Sanchez poses May by a second referendum for London return to the EU after Brexit
The brother of Boris Johnson causes another crisis of Government in the final of the Brexit
The future of the border in Ireland has stood between London and Brussels at the end of the countdown of the Brexit. The negotiators british community and stepped on the accelerator to try to reach an agreement in principle between the Tuesday and the Wednesday, but the internal division of the Government of Theresa May over the ‘safeguarding’ (‘backstop’) to prevent the return to the frontier ‘takes’ on the island reactivated the feeling of uncertainty and chaos experienced in the last two years.
The former Foreign secretary Boris Johnson called on ministers to “mutiny” against May by his intention to turn the Uk into “a colony of the EU”. His brother Jo Johnson, who resigned Friday as secretary of State for Transport, accused the ‘premier’ of having orchestrated a “calculated deception of the british people”. The conservative member Mark Francois compared the “capitulation” of May with the fall of Singapore in the hands of the japanese in the Second World War…
The ‘premier’ would submit the draft agreement to the verdict of their own Government, the same Tuesday. Between four and ten ministers and supporters of Brexit ‘hard’ have shown a priori opposition to the ‘safeguarding’ irish and would put May in an untenable situation. “The important thing to remember is that there will be two revisions to the agreement, one in Government and another in the Parliament,” warned the International Development secretary, Penny Mordaunt.
In the Parliament, May is losing support by the two flanks of his own party, both supporters of the Brexti ‘hard’ as the advocates of the permanence. The ‘premier’ faces also the threat of “rupture” of the Party Democratic Unionist (DUP), whose support it desperately needs in order to reach the necessary majority of 320 meps to ratify the agreement with Brussels.
The “day of reckoning” is approaching, as has warned Downing Street to the ministers, and from Brussels come also contradictory messages. “The intense efforts of the negotiation continue, but we have not yet reached an agreement”, stated this Monday that the negotiator-in-chief of the EU Michel Barnier, hours after the ‘Financial Times’ revealed that the own Barnier had said to a group of european diplomats that he was “almost done”.
The president of the European Council Donald Tusk decided to join also to the strake end, ensuring that the agreement has to be ready “as the maximum on the Wednesday afternoon,” so that it can be reviewed by the governments of the 27. May continues to focus on the need to convene a special summit at the end of November, with the intent of forcing a vote in Westminster before Christmas, and leaving the calendar clear in the last three months.
But the main and recurring obstacle returns to the fateful ‘safeguarding’ irish. Despite the initial agreement in December last year, the british Government has reculado in the final straight, before the pressure of the supporters of Brexit ‘hard’, which fear that this is a “trap” to leave the country indefinitely in the customs union.
Theresa May has tried to negotiate two points. The ‘safeguarding’ applies to the whole of the Uk, and not exclusively to Northern Ireland (so as not to compromise the territorial integrity). And that there is an “exit mechanism” that can be activated by London as it deems fit after the consummation of the Brexit, originally scheduled for the 29 march 2019.
The EU has called into question until the end of the double intention of May, ensuring that the purpose of the ‘backstop’ is precisely to serve as a safety cushion for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and questioning the ability of the Uk to unilaterally determine when you can activate the “exit mechanism” of the customs union.
“The ‘safeguarding’ is our life insurance to the two sides of the border”, said Monday the leader of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’neill, at the head of a delegation also integrated by the Social Democratic Party and Labour party (SLDP), the Party of the Alliance and the Green Party. “Without the protection of the current status, to avoid the return to the border hard and the ghosts of the past, there can be an agreement.”
“that is what we have tried to say to Theresa May, that however has not wanted to listen to you and remains committed to maintaining the relationship toxic with the unionists of the DUP”, stressed for its part, Colum Eastwood, vice president of the SLDP. “It is good to remind May that the unionists lost their majority in the last elections to the Assembly, that we represent 50 of the 96 escanaños and Northern Ireland voted to stay by 56% compared to 44% of the votes”.
The delegation northern ireland-yes got however hold a meeting with the leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn, who criticized however for its ambiguity with the Brexit, in contrast with the majority opinion of the militant labor leaders, supporters at this point a second referendum on the final agreement.
“you can’t stop the Brexit”, said Corbyn to the magazine ‘Der Spiegel’, to the astonishment of his own spokesman for the EU, Keir Starmer, who was forced to correct his words and to emphasize that “all options remain on the table”, including the convocation of early elections and the holding of a second referendum. The ex premier labour’s Gordon Brown asked him to Corbyn that respects the motions adopted by the party and predicted that the holding of a second referendum may be “inevitable”.
Theresa May warned that the negotiations of the Brexit have entered “the end game”. “We are working very hard and during the night we will discuss the outstanding issues in the agreement of withdrawal, which are still quite significant, said the “premier” during a speech at the annual dinner of the Lord mayor of London.
“The two parties want to reach an agreement, but what we are trying to negotiate is immensely difficult,” he said, in the moment of recognizing that the british Government is not willing to make concessions for the simple fact to keep alive the expectations of a special summit of the Brexit at the end of November.
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