Senior official: May's government wants a good Brexit deal

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Britain's Education Secretary Damian Hinds said on Monday he did not envisage a no-deal Brexit becoming the official policy of Prime Minister Theresa May's government.

Asked if May had told her cabinet of senior ministers she would not allow a no-deal Brexit, Hinds said: "I don't envisage the pursuit of a no deal becoming government policy because we want a deal."

"The clear majority of colleagues across the House in parliament ... absolutely want there to be a good deal," he told BBC radio.

Britain's Education Secretary Damian Hinds arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, January 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

On Tuesday, parliament will debate May's proposed next steps over the Brexit deadlock as well as alternative plans put forward by lawmakers, including some that seek to delay Britain's exit by requesting an extension to the Article 50 negotiation period.

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Johnson: Ditch the Irish backstop and get support

Meanwhile, the most prominent Brexit campaigner in May's Conservative Party said on Monday that she would get widespread support if she got the EU to ditch the Irish backstop.

With less than nine weeks until the United Kingdom is due by law to leave the EU on March 29, there is no agreement yet in London on how and even whether to leave the world's biggest trading bloc.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a session at the parliament in London, January 23, 2019. /VCG Photo

Parliament defeated May's deal two weeks ago by a huge margin with many Brexit-supporting rebels in her party angry at the Irish backstop, an insurance policy aimed at preventing a hard border in Ireland if no other solutions can be agreed.

"The PM wants to get rid of the backstop," Boris Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph, saying May could insert a "Freedom Clause" to allow the UK to get out of the backstop without the agreement of the EU.

"If the PM secures that change – a proper UK-sized perforation in the fabric of the backstop itself – I have no doubt that she will have the whole country full-throatedly behind her," Johnson said.

Boris Johnson delivers a speech at JCB World Headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire, UK, January 18, 2019. /VCG Photo

He said very senior sources in the government had told him that May would seek binding legal changes to the deal she agreed in November with the EU. Ireland has said it doesn't want any changes to the backstop.

No-deal exit could harm UK economy

Despite the humiliating rejection of May's Brexit deal on January 15, Britain is no closer to knowing the end result of its vote to leave the European Union.

Three ultimate scenarios remain – leaving without an official deal, leaving with a very similar deal or no Brexit at all. But each path is fraught with uncertainty, political volatility, constitutional logjams and an increasingly embittered electorate.

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A no-deal scenario threatens to trigger a recession in Britain and markedly slow the EU's economic growth, as well as causing significant legal disruption.

The world's fifth-biggest economy could lose preferential access to its largest export market overnight, affecting every sector, leading to rising costs and disruption at British ports.

As D-Day looms, the government has conducted visible displays of its ramped-up no-deal preparations over the past few weeks. But speculation is growing that the government, under pressure from parliament, could seek to delay the process and take no-deal off the table.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters