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British Prime Minister Theresa May will try on Wednesday to persuade her divided government to support a draft agreement on Brexit with the European Union or to plunge the UK into political and economic uncertainty.
May convened a special Cabinet meeting after British and European negotiators broke a deadlock for several months and reached an agreement on the terms of divorce, including a plan to maintain the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland open after Brexit.
May had an individual meeting Wednesday morning with the ministers, before the Cabinet meeting at 14 hours. (1400 GMT) in order to build an agreement and avoid any resignations.
The pro-Brexit MPs of the Conservative Party of May – including some Cabinet members – say that the deal will leave Britain tied to the European Union after its departure and the impossibility of to forge an independent commercial policy.
May's supporters argue that the agreement is the best on the market and that the alternatives are a chaotic Brexit "no-deal" that would cause great disruption to citizens and businesses, or an election that could see the Conservative government replaced by the left party. center of the Labor Party.
Former Foreign Minister William Hague warned the "Brexite Specialists" that, if they rescinded the May agreement, this could result in a change of government and a new referendum, as well. that "Brexit could never happen".
The lack of Cabinet support will leave May's leadership in doubt and the Brexit process in chaos, with a departure day at four months of March 29th.
If the Cabinet supports the agreement, it will have to be approved by the EU at a summit in the coming weeks. Then May will have to win the support of Parliament, where pro-Brexit and pro-EU legislators threaten to oppose it.
The main obstacle to a withdrawal agreement has long been to avoid customs posts or other controls along the border between Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland after Brexit. Britain and the European Union agree that there must be no barrier that can disrupt businesses and residents on both sides of the border and undermine Ireland's hard-won peace process. North.
The proposed solution involves a common customs regime for the United Kingdom and the EU, in order to eliminate the need for border controls, with some specific provisions in Northern Ireland.
The solution is supposed to be temporary, but British politicians favor Brexit fear that it will become permanent, which would hinder its ability to conclude new trade agreements in the world.
Former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, who is in favor of a clean break from the bloc, said the deal would be his preferred option, which would make a loose Canadian-made trade deal with the bloc impossible. . He tweeted: "The Cabinet must assume its responsibilities and put an end to this agreement."
The Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, which supports May's minority government, said it would oppose any deal that would subject Northern Ireland to different rules for the rest of UK after Brexit.
Chief DUP whip Jeffrey Donaldson said the proposed agreement threatens "the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK".
"It's not something we can support," he told the BBC.
May is also facing growing opposition from pro-European lawmakers, who claim that his draft Brexit deal is worse than the status quo and that the British public should get a new vote on the opportunity of leave or stay.
