THE UK and the European Union are still in deadlock over the renegotiation of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement.
Neither Downing Street nor the European Commission would confirm plans for a face-to-face meeting between Mrs May and Mr Juncker, who spoke by telephone on Sunday evening and again on Monday.
Time is running out for any new assurances or clarifications to the deal which was resoundingly rejected by a 230-vote majority by MPs in January.
The Government must table its motion for Tuesday’s debate by the end of the day, alongside the publication of any relevant documents – including Attorney General Geoffrey Cox’s legal advice on the deal.
Just one day before another vote is to be held in Parliament on the agreement confirms that the Prime Minister is extremely unlikely to pass her deal, which last year was described as a “surrender document” by UKIP Leader Gerard Batten.
Mr Batten said, “We are now entering the final act of Mrs May’s Brexit betrayal. Her so-called deal, which I described as a surrender document last year has no chance of being passed tomorrow. On Wednesday, Parliament will likely take WTO Brexit off the table, and on Thursday the House will vote to extend Article 50. The only question which remains is for how long.
“I suspect that they will vote to extend it until July, which is the full length of the mandates of existing UK MEPs. This would probably allow the government to avoid a European Parliament election in which they will be rubbed off the European electoral map. What happens after July is anyone’s guess, but the bottom line is that the political establishment is betraying Brexit and UKIP stands ready to fight for Brexit in any and all future elections.”
More follows.