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| Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May said cabinet approval of a draft Brexit agreement was a 'collective decision' (AFP Photo/Ben STANSALL) |
May emerged from a five-hour meeting with ministers that had sent the value of the pound gyrating to announce she had full backing to move ahead with her Brexit plan.
"The
collective decision of cabinet was that the government should agree the draft
withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration," May said
outside her Downing Street office.
But the
embattled leader conceded that she could face even stronger resistance when she
takes the text to parliament for approval next month.
Rumours of
cabinet resignations and a plot by eurosceptic MPs in May's own party to unseat
her saw the pound plunge one percent in a wild hour of swings.
May said
she engaged in an "impassioned debate" with her ministers -- and that
there "will be difficult days ahead".
"This
is a decision that will come under intense scrutiny and that is entirely as it
should be and entirely understandable," she said in reference to the
impending parliament vote.
The
European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is to give a statement
at 2000 GMT following May's announcement.
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Anti-Brexit
demonstrators protest outside parliament as the cabinet meets to
decide on a
draft deal on Britain's divorce from the European Union (AFP Photo/
Ben
STANSALL)
|
The
framework agreement announced on Tuesday capped a year-and-a-half of
negotiations aimed at unwinding nearly 46 years of British EU membership.
Suffering
economic uncertainty in the wake of the global financial crisis and fearing an
influx of migrants, Britons voted by a 52-48 margin in June 2016 to break from
Brussels.
Britain and
the EU are now set to hold a Brexit summit on November 25.
Appearing
before the House of Commons earlier Wednesday, May confronted the anger of both
those who want a cleaner break with Brussels and those who think Brexit is a
disaster.
Jeremy
Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party who is seeking early
elections, called the entire negotiations process "shambolic".
"This
government spent two years negotiating a bad deal that will leave the country
in an indefinite half-way house," he said.
And
Conservative Party MP Peter Bone, a leading eurosceptic, accused May of
"not delivering the Brexit people voted for".
"Today
you will lose the support of many Conservative MPs and millions of
voters," he warned the British leader.
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Ttimeline
of the Brexit talks (AFP Photo/Gillian HANDYSIDE)
|
'Sells
out the country'
Angry
Brexit supporters and critics rallied outside May's office in Downing Street as
she tried to get her disgruntled ministers to line up behind the deal.
"It
sells out the country completely. We will be a vassal state of the EU,"
said Lucy Harris, who founded the Leavers of London group.
In Boston,
the town in England with the highest Brexit vote in Britain, residents agreed.
"It's
crap," retiree Kathrine Denham, 74. "She's reneging on everything we
voted for."
More
ominously, the Northern Irish party propping up May's government threatened to
break their alliance over leaks about a special arrangement for the British
province.
Democratic
Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster said she expected to be briefed about
the deal by May late Wednesday, warning that "there will be
consequences" if the leaks were true.
An EU
official told AFP that the final deal includes a so-called "backstop"
in which the whole United Kingdom will remain in a customs arrangement with the
EU.
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Britain's
Prime Minister Theresa May says a draft Brexit deal delivers on the
result of
the 2016 referendum (AFP Photo/HO)
|
Northern
Ireland would have special status under the proposals, meaning that some checks
may be required between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country.
The
reported arrangement did not go down well in Scotland, where the
pro-independence and europhile government also questioned the deal.
Its
nationalist leader Nicola Sturgeon asked why Northern Ireland should have a
special status that would effectively keep it in the European single market
while Scotland should not.
'Short
notice'
The talks
were stuck for months on how to avoid border checks between British Northern
Ireland and EU member Ireland, if and until London strikes a new trade deal
with Brussels.
The deal
reportedly allows for a review mechanism that Britain could use to try to leave
the backstop arrangement -- a key demand of Conservative eurosceptics.
Former Tory
party leader William Hague warned Brexiteers that they could sabotage the whole
process if they failed to back May's plan.
"If
they vote down a deal because they are not happy with the details, the
consequences may be that Brexit never happens," he said on the radio.
The Evening
Standard countered with a front page that mocked May's oft-repeated phrase
about Britain taking back control of its destiny, declaring: "EU takes
back control."
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