Wednesday, November 28, 2018

In Dramatic Reversal, Theresa May Will Allow Parliament To Change Brexit Deal

After markets were given their first peek behind the curtain earlier this week after reports that the EU wouldn't consider a renegotiation until Parliament rejects the deal, Bloomberg has followed up with the latest indication that May's insistence on her deal being the "Best and only" deal on the table was just an example of the prime minister saying what needed to be said.

Because, according to Bloomberg, just days after her Brexit plan was "Finalized" during a meeting of EU states over the weekend, the prime minister is reportedly ready to public acknowledge a longstanding reality: That, ultimately, Parliament must be allowed to write their own deal if anything is expected to pass.

To that end, May has reportedly dropped her resistance to parliamentary rewrites, and is instead moving toward holding a "Meaningful vote", which would allow Parliament to propose amendments to her deal before voting on which amendments to accept, and which to deny, before approving the revised agreement.

Just as May must maintain the perception that she is doing everything she can to pass the deal in its current form, the EU can't be seen giving the UK a pass.

So shortly after Bloomberg published its report, the Guardian, a British newspaper, followed up with what sounded like a warning: If the Commons doesn't accept the deal in its current form, the EU will start preparing for a "No deal" Brexit scenario.

The possibility of the British government pivoting towards membership of the European Economic Area and the European Free Trade Association following a rejection in parliament of the prime minister's deal is gathering momentum in the Commons.

Under the plan, known as "Norway-plus," with reference to the Nordic country's arrangements with the bloc, the UK would also stay in a customs union with the EU. And as if they needed one more reason to oppose the deal, the Financial Times reported Wednesday that May's own government has forecast that her Brexit plan would shrink the UK's GDP by 4 percentage points over the long term.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-28/stunning-reversal-theresa-may-reportedly-ready-allow-parliament-change-brexit-deal

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