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Brexit: UK Parliament Rejects May’s Deal Again


Wed 13 Mar 2019 | 03:37 PM
Hassan El-Khawaga

By Jude Nazeer

CAIRO, March 13 (SEE) — For the second time, the House of Commons on Tuesday night rejected the Brexit agreement renegotiated with Brussels by 391 votes to 242. Theresa May repeated that this agreement was "the only and best possible agreement".

UK MPs (Members of Parliament) rejected the Brexit agreement negotiated between London and Brussels, by 391 votes to 242, plunging the United Kingdom in uncertainty to 17 days of the expected date of porce.

The text was overwhelmingly rejected in January. Following Tuesday's vote, May reiterated that this agreement was "the only and best deal possible". On the other hand, for the Labor opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said this agreement "is dead".

On the European side, the spokesman for European Council President Donald Tusk said the vote "significantly" increased the risk of a Brexit without agreement.

"It's hard to see what else we can do. If there is a solution to the current impasse, it can only be found in London," Preben Aamann said, adding that the EU would continue its preparations for a Brexit without agreement.

On his part, EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that Brussels has done all it could to help with the approval of the Brexit agreement. "The stalemate can only be overcome by the UK," he tweeted, adding that the EU's preparations for a “porce” without an agreement were now more important than ever.

On Monday, the head of the British government managed to win ultimate concessions, particularly about the procedure of "backstop" —the controversial device that would maintain the United Kingdom in a customs union with the EU to avoid a border in Ireland.

The prime minister had also obtained the addition of a second document, with the same legal value as the agreement, which specifies that the United Kingdom should not be trapped indefinitely by the EU in this supposedly temporary mechanism.

On Wednesday, the MPs will meet to decide the issue of a Brexit without agreement. And the next day, Thursday, they will accept -or not- the possibility of postponing the official release date.

A postponement of the Brexit, on the other hand, will have to be authorized by all 27 EU Member States and should not exceed the date of the European elections, which will be on the 26th of May.