Analysis: The Brexit mess gets messier as the deadline nears
By Dan Balz Dan Balz Chief correspondent covering national politics, the presidency and Congress Email Bio Follow March 20 at 12:43 PM LONDON — For more than two years, British Prime Minister Theresa May has been looking for a pair of exit ramps — one to successfully navigate her country out of the European Union, as called for by voters in a 2016 referendum, and another to avoid further damage to her deeply divided Conservative Party. The damage to herself appears irreparable.
And as Britain nears the March 29 deadline for leaving the E.U., Trump continues to undermine the already weakened prime minister as he wages an international war against elites.Immediately after the Brexit referendum, Cameron resigned as prime minister and May won the leadership battle to succeed him.
May has absorbed the criticism from all sides. She is pummeled on editorial pages and by members of her own party, even her own cabinet. In other times, her government probably would have fallen. Still she has soldiered on, unwilling to admit ultimate defeat, unwilling to step aside, constantly scratching and clawing for more time and more tweaks to an exit agreement in the hope of gaining a majority vote before the deadline.
May spent the weekend wooing members of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, in the hope that support from that small bloc would in turn create a domino effect that would bring along the hard-liners in her party in numbers enough to command a majority. Then Bercow dropped his bombshell, and she has been forced to scramble anew.
Meanwhile, May told Parliament that any effort to seek a longer extension, as some who want to avoid a hard Brexit would like to see, would be the limit of her patience, signaling for the first time that she will struggle only so much longer. To the president’s son, the villains are the bureaucrats at E.U. headquarters in Brussels blocking Britain from leaving the union and “the Democrats and deep state operatives” out to frustrate his father and block his agenda.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
British Parliament rejects any no-deal Brexit, 16 days before deadline
Read more »
Analysis | Trump is losing so much in court that allies are getting tired of itA new analysis shows the Trump administration has lost a stunning number of cases in federal courts, and many of the losses have come via basic mistakes and by GOP-appointed judges.
Read more »
Analysis | The 400-year-old legal precedent that might break BrexitBritain's path out of the E.U. is being held up by the events of 1604.
Read more »
Analysis | Ireland’s prime minister talks Brexit and TrumpIreland's Leo Varadkar on what Britain’s exit from the European Union might mean for Dublin’s relationship with Washington.
Read more »
This Woman's Tweet About Clothing Sizes Started A Conversation About How Messed Up Things Really AreThis Pic Started A Conversation About How Messed Up Women’s Clothing Sizes Really Are
Read more »
Goat elected as honorary mayor sworn in for first term, leaves mess for police chiefLincoln, a 3-year-old goat, was dressed in a sash reading 'Mayor' for the Tuesday ceremony in Fair Haven, Vermont.
Read more »
Ex-U.S. Attorney Bharara to Trump: don't mess with Manhattan probesAny such attempt, Bharara predicted, would likely prompt Democrats in Congress to start the impeachment process. Bharara, who was fired as head of the office soon after Trump became president, wrote a book, 'Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment and the Rule of Law,'
Read more »
Here's How The Cast Of 'Full House' Reacted To This Lori Loughlin MessHere's What The Cast Of 'Full House' Has Been Doing In The Wake Of Lori Loughlin's Arrest
Read more »