The beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered yet another humiliating defeat in parliament (House of Commons) on Tuesday March 12, after her “new Brexit deal” was rejected by members of parliament (MPs) with a majority of 149 votes (242 in favour and 391 against).
Her defeat came in quick succession after she had lost in her earlier attempt to obtain parliamentary approval on the so-called “original deal” on January 20. By that defeat, the British parliament dealt yet another devastating blow to May’s leadership and her already battered image even as she had continued to bungle the Brexit deal which MPs had earlier insisted was a complete “sell-out” to the European Union.
The last straw that finally broke the camel’s back was the legal opinion by the chief law officer of the British government and attorney general who repudiated the so-called last minute assurances obtained by May from the EU leaders on the highly contentious issue of the Custom Union on the Irish border. The attorney general maintained that the assurances May had extracted from the EU was not legally binding on the Brexit deal hence such assurances could not alter the contents of the already rejected deal.
It was indeed a masterstroke which emboldened many hard-line Brexiteers in May’s governing Conservative Party to massively vote against the so-called “revised deal”. The EU’s so-called assurances to Theresa May was merely a window dressing or simply put a symbolic gesture carefully designed to appease the embattled May who had since lost her moral authority not only within her own government but also in her governing Conservative Party. A “No deal” scenario which had long been predicted by political watchers in the unfolding Brexit drama now seems inevitable.
In the past few weeks, parliament had been debating and voting on series of amendments on the Brexit deal including the possibility of a second referendum. Precisely on March 13, parliament rejected the “No deal” motion, 321 votes against and 278 votes in favour of no deal Brexit. In the same vein, parliament equally rejected the motion for a second referendum, 334 votes against and 85 votes in favour. Another crucial vote was taken on March 14 on the vexed issue of “Delay Brexit” or extension which would allow the United Kingdom more time to put together an acceptable deal that could be passed in parliament. In other words, should the EU grant the United Kingdom an extension, then the scheduled date for United Kingdom’s final departure from the EU which is slated for March 29 would no longer be feasible. Parliament had already voted in favour of delay Brexit or extension, 413 votes in favour and 202 against.
In the midst of the extremely messy political situation and uncertainty, the Hon. Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow few days ago released what could be described as a bombshell when he told parliament that Prime Minister May could not re-present her Brexit deal in its present form which had been overwhelmingly rejected twice by parliament without substantial changes or amendments. This latest development had further compounded the already complicated Brexit impasse. It had equally thrown up a constitutional crises which was unprecedented since a similar political scenario erupted in 1604 about 300 years ago.
In the meantime however, Theresa May in her familiar diplomatic shuttle was due to visit the European leaders in Brussels on Thursday March 21, with a view to convincing them to grant the United Kingdom an extension beyond March 29, which is the scheduled date for her departure from the EU. The United Kingdom had requested for a new departure date and which is June 30. But whether the European leaders would be favourably disposed to grant an extension to the United Kingdom is entirely a different matter altogether even as the EU had always insisted that the British parliament had not yet come up with any viable alternative to the Brexit deal which Prime Minister May signed with the EU leaders more than two years ago. For any Brexit extension to happen however, it will require the revocation of the all important Article 50 in the union treaty which initially triggered off the Brexit process by Britain over a year ago.
According to press statement just released in Brussels, leaders of the 27 member states of the EU after their crucial meeting on Thursday March 21 granted Britain an extension up till April 22, to allow the British parliament approve the Brexit deal or in the alternative, bring up any other viable option that would be acceptable to the European Union. It seems time has already run out for the British to engage in further political manoeuvring in the utterly confusing Brexit imbroglio.
As the Brexit saga continues to rage however, another dangerous dimension to the endless crises seem to have reared its ugly head when Prime Minister May in a televised broadcast to the British people in the evening of March 20 launched what could be described as a veiled attack on the integrity of the MPs whom she accused of being the stumbling block to her Brexit deal without offering any meaningful proposal or alternative to the deal. She devoted much of her speech to what could be termed a blame game and had assured the British people that she was always with them and vowed to carry out the people’s sacred mandate which they unambiguously expressed in the referendum to leave the EU about three years ago. Swift reactions from some conservative party members in parliament however, greeted her speech who described her televised speech as simply outrageous and unfortunate.
Meanwhile Britain appears to be in a terrible political quagmire, disarray and had boxed herself into a tight corner, even as the British economy is currently under severe stress and in an unprecedented state of doldrums and uncertainty. The lingering political crises has adversely affected the British currency the Pound Sterling, which had been on the receiving end since the Brexit stalemate even as its volatility had impacted negatively on the lives of the British people generally.
To British political watchers, the Brexit debacle could be attributed to the British political leaders or gladiators who had grossly underestimated the dire consequences the Brexit deal would cause the British economy and her people. The British political leaders across the political spectrum were simply myopic and could not see beyond their noses even as they were merely concerned with the primordial sentiment and extreme narrow interest of protecting the British sovereignty and blind nationalism which they argued were arbitrarily ceded to the European Union via the Union Treaty of 1958.
The British have simply shot themselves on the foot and are now paying dearly for their omission or commission in the entire Brexit saga. The United Kingdom made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is currently facing unprecedented threat of disintegration occasioned by the Brexit uncertainty. The people of Scotland who overwhelmingly voted to remain in the European Union are already calling for yet another referendum for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. Similarly, the people of Northern Ireland who also voted to remain in the EU are equally reaffirming their yearnings and aspirations to re-unite with their kith and kin in Irish Republic across the border who equally voted massively to remain in the EU. Should the above scenario eventually play out, it would be only a matter of time when the people of Wales would also demand for their own independence and leaving England alone as a nation.
Akabogu (JP) wrote from Enugwu-Ukwu, Anambra State.
