British PM pushes for Brexit deal vote after being forced to seek delay
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[October 21, 2019]
By Alistair Smout and Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson will again try to put his Brexit deal to a vote in
parliament on Monday after he was forced by his opponents to send a
letter seeking a delay from the European Union.
With just 10 days left until the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU
on Oct. 31, the divorce is again in disarray as Britain's political
class argue over whether to leave with a deal, exit without a deal or
hold another referendum.
Although Johnson hammered out a deal in grueling talks with EU officials
last week, it was not certain that the speaker of the House of Commons
would allow a vote on the deal on Monday.
Johnson was ambushed by opponents in parliament on Saturday who demanded
a change to the sequencing of the ratification of the deal, exposing the
prime minister to a law which demanded he request a delay until Jan. 31.
In a twist that illustrates the extent to which Brexit has strained the
norms of British statecraft, Johnson sent the note to the EU unsigned -
and added another signed letter arguing against what he cast as a deeply
corrosive delay.
"A further extension would damage the interests of the UK and our EU
partners, and the relationship between us," Johnson said his own letter,
signed "Boris Johnson".
The EU has not yet given a clear response.
The British government insisted on Sunday the country will leave the EU
on Oct. 31, and plans to put the deal to a vote in parliament later on
Monday though it is unclear if the House of Commons speaker, John Bercow,
will allow such a vote.
Bercow will make a statement on the proceedings shortly after parliament
opens at 1330 GMT.
If Bercow, who said on Saturday he was blindsided by the government's
debate proposal, does not allow it then the government will have to try
to push on with the legislation needed for ratification of Johnson's
deal.
But that is a path that exposes Johnson to attempts by opponents to
wreck the agreement.
Sterling, which has rallied more than 6% since Oct. 10, slid from
five-month highs on Monday. It hit as low as $1.2850 in Asian trading
before settling around $1.2920 <GBP=D3> in London, down 0.5% on the day.
Goldman Sachs raised the probability of the United Kingdom leaving with
a ratified deal to 70% from 65%, cut its view of the chances of a
"no-deal" Brexit to 5% from 10% and left its view on no Brexit at all
unchanged at 25%.
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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the House of
Commons as parliament discusses Brexit, sitting on a Saturday for
the first time since the 1982 Falklands War, in London, Britain,
October 19, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Parliament
TV via REUTERS
BREXIT DELAY?
The EU, which has grappled with the tortuous Brexit crisis since
Britons voted 52%-48% to leave in a 2016 referendum, decided on
Sunday to play for time rather than rush to decide on Johnson's
request.
From the EU's point of view, extension options range from just an
additional month until the end of November to half a year or longer.
Anti-Brexit campaigners said they would ask a Scottish court on
Monday to delay its ruling on a legal challenge that sought to force
Johnson to comply with a law requiring him to request a delay to
Brexit in the event that no agreement had been approved.
EU Council President Donald Tusk has said he has received Johnson's
unsigned request and is consulting with EU leaders on how to react.
In London, Johnson's ministers said they were confident they had the
numbers to push a deal through parliament where opponents were
plotting to derail the deal he had assured the EU that he could
ratify.
But the opposition Labour Party is planning changes to the
legislation needed for Brexit that would make the deal unacceptable
to swathes of Johnson's own party including a proposals for another
referendum.
Johnson's former allies, the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist
Party (DUP), said they would not back a proposal for a customs union
with the EU - a step that, if passed, would doom Johnson's deal.
"We are clear where we stand on the customs union as something that
we cannot support and will not support, and I believe that that will
be the stance we will have later on when we see the wording," DUP
lawmaker Jim Shannon said.
If Johnson's deal is scuppered just days before the United Kingdom's
planned departure, it would leave Johnson a choice: try to leave
without a deal or accept a delay.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Toby Chopra and Angus
MacSwan)
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