Last ditch move
Downing street is trying to convince Brexiteers to back Theresa May’s deal in a last ditch move.
Plans could include strengthening the power of the parliament in order to get more control over the backstop but they haven’t made any decision on any new approach.
Theresa May will also continue meeting conservative MPs today as wel as tomorrow. She will here their concerns and persuade them to back her plans.
May Vs. Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn confronted Theresa May about her governments record on poverty in the house of commons.
He quoted a report by the united nations on the government’s “brutal policies” towards those who are living in poverty. Corbyn asked May if she was shocked by this and also asked her why she didn’t reply to a letter he wrote her about the issue.
“We don’t agree with this report”, May replied. She argued that “absolute povery” was at “record lows” and “more people were in work than ever before.” She also argued that Youth unemployment had almost halved and wages were rising.
"UK has to pay"
Sam Gyimah, the conservative former universities minister said in his speech that the UK will have to pay whatever price the EU asks to get out of backstop.
"Brexit is a price worth paying"
Chancelor Philip Hammond has stated that Brexit is a price worth paying if it helps to make the people that voted to leave not feel betrayed.
Warning Irish backstop
The legal advice warns that the UK could become trapped because of the Irish backstop. It sais that the UK could find itself in “protracted and repeated rounds of negotiations” for many years to come.
Geoffrey cox, the attorney general also said that the backstop wil persist even if the negotiations broke down on both sides. “In international law, the protocol would endure indefinetly until a superseding arrangement took its place.”
What is the backstop?
In the current Brexit agreement it sais that the United Kingdom would like to construct a common customs area together with the EU as an emergency solution.
This will happen if there is still no trade agreement about the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland by the end of 2020.
A soft border would mean that Northern Ireland would have more European rules than the rest of the United Kingdom. Something some people aren’t to happy about.