May to resign before ‘next phase’ of Brexit talks

LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will not remain in post for the next phase of Brexit negotiations.May’s offer to step down after her Withdrawal Agreement is passed came in response to calls from a number of her backbenchers for her to name the date of her departure in return for their help in pushing the deal through Parliament.May spoke to the influential Tory 1922 Committee shortly before MPs were due to take part in “indicative votes” on a range of Brexit options in the House of Commons on Wednesday. She said she “will not stand in the way” of the party having new leadership, telling the 1922: “I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.”“This has been a testing time for our country and our party. We’re nearly there,” May told the packed closed-door meeting in parliament, according to her Downing Street office.“I know there is a desire for a new approach — and new leadership — in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations and I won’t stand in the way of that. But we need to get the deal through and deliver Brexit. I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party. I ask everyone in this room to back the deal so we can complete our historic duty — to deliver on the decision of the British people and leave the European Union with a smooth and orderly exit.”Three years of political turmoil that followed Britain’s decision to break its near half-century bond with the EU were meant to have ended on Friday with the formal completion of the divorce. But no clear end is in sight and lawmakers have twice resoundingly rejected the agreement May concluded with Brussels over 17 months of acrimonious talks.Parliament had decided to try to resolve the crisis by giving itself the right to choose from a variety of alternatives to May’s plan. It was vote on eight options that range from a second referendum to recalling the EU withdrawal notice or leaving under much closer economic terms.Time has been set aside on Monday for MPs to try and whittle down the most popular options to a final plan. But the motions are non-binding and it will be tough for parliament to force the government to back any proposal with which it disagrees.House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, responsible for bringing forward government business, warned that a lot of parliament’s proposals “are just undeliverable”. She said there was a “real possibility” that May will bring back her deal for a third vote on Thursday or Friday.But Commons Speaker John Bercow reminded May that he already scuppered her plan to hold a third vote last week because she was effectively bringing back the same rejected text. “I do expect the government to meet the test of change,” Bercow told the chamber.

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