Opinion | Theresa May’s vote failure leaves her on the brink and the UK on a collision course with hard Brexit

Andrew Hammond says the British PM’s hasty postponement of her proposal before Parliament shows how hard it is to craft a Brexit deal that the public, and EU, can support

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Anti-Brexit demonstrators protest outside Parliament, in London on December 10, as Theresa May announced a postponement of a crucial vote on the Brexit agreement struck with EU leaders last month. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:00pm, 11 Dec 2018Updated: 8:30pm, 11 Dec 2018

The European Council meets on Thursday for the last summit of the year amid growing Brexit turmoil following British Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to postpone Tuesday’s vote in Parliament on the UK’s withdrawal treaty.

The fresh uncertainty is also knocking business confidence, with the Confederation of British Industry asserting on Monday that the UK “risks sliding towards a national crisis”. In financial markets, the pound on Monday slipped to its lowest levels since April 2017.

The pressure on May to secure new concessions in Brussels, especially around the so-called “Irish backstop” – which would prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – is overwhelming.

Yet, European Council President Donald Tusk indicated on Monday that the EU-27 “will not renegotiate the deal, including backstop. As time is running out, we will also discuss our preparedness for a no-deal scenario”.

While Brussels badly wants a deal with the UK, it faces practical constraints on how much it can compromise, especially given Ireland’s backstop interests. To Germany and France, Brexit is vandalism of Europe and, while the fear of EU disintegration has receded, this issue remains a concern.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker greets the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as European Council President Donald Tusk looks on. Tusk has said the EU wants to help “facilitate” the Brexit process but ruled out further renegotiations and said the bloc is preparing for the possibility of no deal. Photo: AP

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Andrew Hammond says the British PM’s hasty postponement of her proposal before Parliament shows how hard it is to craft a Brexit deal that the public, and EU, can support

Andrew Hammond says the British PM’s hasty postponement of her proposal before Parliament shows how hard it is to craft a Brexit deal that the public, and EU, can support