Brexit Challenges: UK remains divided as May scrambles to strike deal with EU

World
Europe

02:34

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May will again address the leaders of the other 27 European Union member states over Brexit. She will present her views over the matter, as the EU is warning of a no-deal Brexit. But what do the British people think of the situation? Our correspondent Richard Bestic tells us.

The view from London is that, if Brussels is a Brexit road bump, it's as nothing alongside the stumbling blocks facing UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

The real opposition behind her on the government benches, her former foreigner minister, who is now her biggest critic, Boris Johnson.

THERESA MAY UK PRIME MINISTER "I am still working for the best outcome for the UK, which is a good negotiated deal."

However, with the likes of former foreign secretary Boris Johnson leading a significant swathe of rebellious members of Parliament from Britain's ruling Conservatives, the way ahead is as clear as mud.

Mix in Arlene Foster's ten Members of Parliament from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionists, who currently prop up May's minority government and suddenly the voting arithmetic looks deeply doubtful.

The Northern Ireland land border with the EU is still the sticking point. Neither the Eurosceptic rebels nor the Unionists are prepared to accept that Northern Ireland is treated differently or that the rest of Britain should be lured into the EU's customs union.

The fear that once in a customs union, without a time tied exit date, the UK would never be free to make its own trade deals around the world.

In Parliament, those in the opposition Labour Party and the Scottish Nationalists are unlikely to bail out May's Brexit deal – preferring, instead, to see her government collapse.

RICHARD BESTIC LONDON "So, if you're finding all the stop-start Brexit negotiations and the complicated Parliamentary arithmetic a little bit on the confusing side, spare a thought for the poor old British public."

"It's confusing. We don't know what's going to happen. One day they say that and one day they say that and we don't know where we're going."

"I know about Brexit, but it's so confusing. Nobody knows what's going on. Can somebody tell or explain Brexit to me."

"I don't know. I really don't know."

So with just hours until what Brussels called "the moment of truth," Britain remains deeply divided over Brexit and genuinely uncertain about what lies ahead. RB, CGTN, London.