Wednesday, January 16, 2019

May Gets Reprieve But Must Have Plan B For Brexit In Five Days; Is Plan B a Second Referendum?

British Prime Minister Theresa May got a reprieve by surviving a vote of confidence in the House of Commons only 24 hours after MPs rejected her Brexit deal by more than 200 votes.


But May has only until next Monday (January 21st) to present the House with a Plan B for a Brexit deal. Given the EU has said the terms of Brexit cannot be renegotiated, it is hard to see what May can possibly come up with in the next five days which she hasn't been able to come up with for past 2½ years. That is unless it involves calling a second referendum, something she has opposed up until now.


But a referendum might be the only card she can play at this point. With no viable Plan B and a pledge not to run in the next general election she and the Tories would have surely lost and the prospect of Britain leaving the EU on March 29th without any deal, May may now welcome a second referendum and so might the opposition including the Labour Party who has no better idea how to deal with this mess than May does.


Should there be a second referendum, Parliament must approve the question. What will the question be? Could it be multiple choice? There's a good chance things the future of Britain in the EU will get even murkier than it already is. But if it's a choice between murky and Corbyn, there are many who will be delighted with murky.



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