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Theresa May holds another Brexit crisis meeting

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 20 Mar 2019, 8:43AM
Photo / AP

Theresa May holds another Brexit crisis meeting

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 20 Mar 2019, 8:43AM

Theresa May has held another crisis meeting with some of her most senior ministers over Brexit.

The British Prime Minister was preparing to ask the EU for a delay of at least several months to Brexit after the speaker of the House of Commons ruled that she can't keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same divorce deal that they have already rejected twice.

That plan was scuttled by House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, who declared that Parliament can only vote again if the deal is "fundamentally different" to the version rejected by 230 votes in January and 149 votes last week.

Former Tony Blair advisor John McTernan told Kate Hawkesby it was a devastating decision from the speaker.

"She had the strategy of running down the clock, with the deadline going closer and closer to leaving the EU, she hoped to scare a lot of MP's to back her deal. This is an almighty spanner in the works for her.

When asked if this could be the end of her political career, McTernan said that many pundits and experts have predicted her downfall for many years, but Theresa May manages to prove them all wrong.

"Her political career has been declared dead hundreds of times. She appears to be ploughing on regardless of the roadblocks. She wants to be the woman who can eventually say that she delivered Brexit."

By law, the U.K. will leave the EU on March 29, deal or no deal, unless it secures a delay from the bloc. Withdrawing without a deal could mean huge disruption for businesses and people in the U.K. and the 27 remaining EU countries.

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