Brexit in meltdown - Theresa May under pressure to forge softer divorce deal - Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s exit from the European Union was in disarray after the implosion of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy left her under pressure from rival factions to leave without a deal, go for an election or forge a much softer divorce.

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in the Parliament in London, Britain, March 29, 2019 in this screen grab taken from video. Reuters TV via REUTERS

After one of the most tumultuous weeks in British politics since the 2016 referendum, it was still uncertain how, when or even if the United Kingdom will ever leave the bloc it first joined 46 years ago.

A third defeat of May’s divorce deal, after her pledge to quit if it was passed, left one of the weakest leaders in a generation grappling with a perilous crisis over Brexit, the United Kingdom’s most significant move since World War Two.

Parliament will vote on different Brexit options on Monday and then May could try one last roll of the dice by bringing her deal back to a vote in parliament as soon as Tuesday.

“There are no ideal choices available and there are very good arguments against any possible outcome at the moment but we are going to have to do something,” said Justice Secretary David Gauke, who voted in the 2016 referendum to stay in the EU.

“The prime minister is reflecting on what the options are, and is considering what may happen but I don’t think any decisions have been made,” he told BBC TV.

Many in May’s party, though, have lost patience. The Sun newspaper reported that 170 of her 314 Conservative lawmakers had sent her a letter demanding that Brexit take place in the next few months - deal or no deal.

The United Kingdom was due to leave the EU on March 29 but the political deadlock in London forced May to ask the bloc for a delay. Currently, Brexit is due to take place at 2200 GMT on April 12 unless May comes up with another option.

“IT IS A MESS”

The labyrinthine Brexit crisis has left the United Kingdom divided: supporters of both Brexit and EU membership marched through London last week. Many on both sides feel betrayed by a political elite that has failed to show leadership.

Parliament is due to vote at around 1900 GMT on Monday on a range of alternative Brexit options selected by Speaker John Bercow from nine proposals put forward by lawmakers, including a no-deal exit, preventing a no-deal exit, a customs union, or a second referendum.

“We are clearly going to have to consider very carefully the will of parliament,” Gauke said.

With no majority yet in the House of Commons for any of the Brexit options, there was speculation that an election could be called, though such a vote would be unpredictable and it is unclear who would lead the Conservatives into it.

The Sunday Times said May’s media chief, Robbie Gibb, and her political aide Stephen Parkinson were pushing for an election against the will of her chief enforcer in parliament, Julian Smith.

The Conservative Party’s deputy chair, James Cleverly, said it was not planning for an election. But the deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, Tom Watson, said his party was on election footing.

Labour’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Emily Thornberry, said it could try to call a vote of no confidence in May’s government.

Slideshow (7 Images)

“We don’t know if she is going to remain prime minister, if we are going to get somebody else, who that other person is going to be - it is a mess,” Thornberry said.

Opponents of Brexit fear it will make Britain poorer and divide the West as it grapples with both the unconventional U.S. presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.

Supporters of Brexit say while the divorce might bring some short-term instability, in the longer term it will allow the United Kingdom to thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed attempt in European unity.

Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2019-03-31 11:38:00Z
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UK's May risks 'total collapse' of government in Brexit impasse: Sunday Times - Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May risks the “total collapse” of her government if she fails to get her battered Brexit deal through parliament, the Sunday Times newspaper said, amid growing speculation that she might call an early election.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is seen in a car outside the Houses of Parliament as she faces a vote on alternative Brexit options in London, Britain, March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo

Underscoring the tough choices facing May to break the Brexit impasse, the newspaper said at least six pro-European Union senior ministers will resign if she opts for a potentially damaging no-deal departure from the EU.

But at the same time, rival ministers who support Brexit were threatening to quit if May decides to stay close to the EU with a customs union or if she sought a long delay to Brexit, the Sunday Times said.

May’s Brexit strategy is in tatters after the exit deal she hammered out with other EU leaders was rejected for a third time by the House of Commons on Friday, the day that Britain was supposed to leave the bloc.

Nearly three years after Britons voted by 52-48 percent to end the country’s EU membership after 46 years, what Brexit will look like or whether it will even happen remains up in the air.

May now has less than two weeks to convince the 27 other EU countries that she can break the deadlock. Otherwise she will have to ask the bloc for a long extension or take Britain out of the EU on April 12 with no deal to soften the economic shock.

May has said she will step down if her Brexit deal gets through parliament, offering her critics the chance of a different prime minister to lead the next round of negotiations with Brussels about Britain’s future ties to the bloc.

But that last-gasp offer has failed to break the impasse, leading to talk of an election.

The Mail on Sunday newspaper said May’s advisors were divided over whether she should call an early election if she fails to win support for her Brexit deal from parliament in the coming week.

The newspaper said a possible “run-off” vote could take place on Tuesday in parliament between May’s deal and whatever alternative emerges as the most popular from voting by lawmakers on Monday.

That meant an election could be called as early as Wednesday, the newspaper said, without citing sources.

An early election would need the support of two thirds of members of parliament, and the Observer newspaper said Conservative lawmakers were reluctant to let May lead them into another election after she lost their majority in 2017.

The Sunday Telegraph said senior members of the Conservative Party did not want May to lead them into a snap election, fearing the party would be “annihilated” at the polls if she faced down parliament over Brexit in the coming months.

An opinion poll in the Mail on Sunday gave the opposition Labour Party a lead of five percentage points over the Conservatives. That lead fell to three points if voters were offered the chance to vote for a new group of independent lawmakers who have not yet created an official party.

One of the most popular alternatives among lawmakers, including Labour members, is Britain staying in a customs union with the EU, an option also favored by many business leaders.

Brexit supporters say a customs union would deny Britain the opportunity to strike trade deals around the world.

Earlier on Saturday, one lawmaker said Conservative members of parliament had written to May telling her to lead Britain out of the EU in the coming months, even if it means a potentially damaging no-deal Brexit.

The Sun newspaper said the letter was signed by 170 of the 314 Conservative lawmakers in parliament, including 10 cabinet ministers.

Reporting by William Schomberg and David Milliken; Editing by Daniel Wallis

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2019-03-30 22:28:00Z
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What’s the Secret to Reaching 111? ‘Avoid Dying,’ but ‘Porridge Is Helpful’ - The New York Times

LONDON — When Alfred Smith and Bob Weighton were born, Edward VII was king of Britain. They have lived through two world wars, more than 20 prime ministers and the entire rule of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. They also saw Britain join the predecessor of the European Union — a bloc it was supposed to leave on Friday, the day both men turned 111.

As it became clear that the withdrawal known as Brexit wouldn’t happen on his birthday after all, Mr. Weighton, who lives in southern England, echoed a growing frustration with the current political deadlock, calling it “a total mess.”

“My own feeling is that if there were defects — and there were quite obviously defects — we can negotiate on the inside rather than walking off the field with the cricket ball and saying ‘I’m not playing,’” Mr. Weighton told the BBC.

But the most common question he has been asked does not concern politics. He said most people wanted to know the secret to his longevity — something to which he could not respond.

“I have no answer, except to avoid dying,” he said.

The oldest person on record living in Britain is a woman: Grace Jones turned 112 in September. But men are increasingly living past the age of 90, and more than 14,000 centenarians were living in Britain in 2017, the most recent year such statistics are available, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Government population estimates see the number of centenarians passing 65,000 by 2031.

Most British citizens receive a personal greeting from Queen Elizabeth II on their 100th and 105th birthdays, and one for each year past the age of 110. Mr. Weighton told the BBC that he would ask the monarch to stop sending him cards in order to save public funds.

Mr. Weighton and Mr. Smith, who lives in Scotland, were both born on March 29, 1908. In recent years, their photographs have appeared in the news side by side, sitting in armchairs 500 miles apart. Though they have never met in person, the two men have exchanged birthday cards.

“I feel he’s a twin brother, although technically he’s not,” Mr. Smith said of Mr. Weighton in an interview last year with the Scottish network STV.

Both men have led an adventurous life spanning continents and different jobs. In the 1930s, Mr. Weighton taught at a missionary school in Taiwan, and moved to the United States by way of Canada.

He and his wife, Agnes, were in the United States during the attack on Pearl Harbor that drew the country into World War II. He has a son who married a Swede and a daughter who married a German.

“I flatly refuse to regard my grandchildren as foreigners,” he told The Guardian last year. “I’m an internationalist, but I’ve not lost my pride in being a Yorkshireman or British.”

Mr. Smith immigrated to Canada in 1927 and worked on a farm there. But he returned to Scotland after five years to drive trucks for his brother. He was a farmer until his retirement at the age of 70.

“I like to think I’ve lived a decent life,” he told The Scotsman newspaper this past week. “I do ask myself — why me? Why have I lived so long when others haven’t?” he asked. His wife died more than 15 years ago at 97, and one of his sons died in 2016.

As to longevity, Mr. Smith had no definitive answer, either.

“Porridge is helpful,” he said, “and having a job you enjoy.”

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2019-03-30 14:30:31Z
CAIiEHSZnyf0AHNjleFH1m7nwcEqFwgEKg8IACoHCAowjuuKAzCWrzwwt4QY

What’s the Secret to Reaching 111? ‘Avoid Dying,’ but ‘Porridge Is Helpful’ - New York Times

LONDON — When Alfred Smith and Bob Weighton were born, Edward VII was king of Britain. They have lived through two world wars, more than 20 prime ministers and the entire rule of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. They also saw Britain join the predecessor of the European Union — a bloc it was supposed to leave on Friday, the day both men turned 111.

As it became clear that the withdrawal known as Brexit wouldn’t happen on his birthday after all, Mr. Weighton, who lives in southern England, echoed a growing frustration with the current political deadlock, calling it “a total mess.”

“My own feeling is that if there were defects — and there were quite obviously defects — we can negotiate on the inside rather than walking off the field with the cricket ball and saying ‘I’m not playing,’” Mr. Weighton told the BBC.

But the most common question he has been asked does not concern politics. He said most people wanted to know the secret to his longevity — something to which he could not respond.

“I have no answer, except to avoid dying,” he said.

The oldest person on record living in Britain is a woman: Grace Jones turned 112 in September. But men are increasingly living past the age of 90, and more than 14,000 centenarians were living in Britain in 2017, the most recent year such statistics are available, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Government population estimates see the number of centenarians passing 65,000 by 2031.

Most British citizens receive a personal greeting from Queen Elizabeth II on their 100th and 105th birthdays, and one for each year past the age of 110. Mr. Weighton told the BBC that he would ask the monarch to stop sending him cards in order to save public funds.

Mr. Weighton and Mr. Smith, who lives in Scotland, were both born on March 29, 1908. In recent years, their photographs have appeared in the news side by side, sitting in armchairs 500 miles apart. Though they have never met in person, the two men have exchanged birthday cards.

“I feel he’s a twin brother, although technically he’s not,” Mr. Smith said of Mr. Weighton in an interview last year with the Scottish network STV.

Both men have led an adventurous life spanning continents and different jobs. In the 1930s, Mr. Weighton taught at a missionary school in Taiwan, and moved to the United States by way of Canada.

He and his wife, Agnes, were in the United States during the attack on Pearl Harbor that drew the country into World War II. He has a son who married a Swede and a daughter who married a German.

“I flatly refuse to regard my grandchildren as foreigners,” he told The Guardian last year. “I’m an internationalist, but I’ve not lost my pride in being a Yorkshireman or British.”

Mr. Smith immigrated to Canada in 1927 and worked on a farm there. But he returned to Scotland after five years to drive trucks for his brother. He was a farmer until his retirement at the age of 70.

“I like to think I’ve lived a decent life,” he told The Scotsman newspaper this past week. “I do ask myself — why me? Why have I lived so long when others haven’t?” he asked. His wife died more than 15 years ago at 97, and one of his sons died in 2016.

As to longevity, Mr. Smith had no definitive answer, either.

“Porridge is helpful,” he said, “and having a job you enjoy.”

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2019-03-30 14:29:56Z
CBMiSmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tLzIwMTkvMDMvMzAvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrLWJyaXRhaW4tb2xkZXN0LW1hbi5odG1s0gGWAWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LW55dGltZXMtY29tLmNkbi5hbXBwcm9qZWN0Lm9yZy92L3Mvd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tLzIwMTkvMDMvMzAvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrLWJyaXRhaW4tb2xkZXN0LW1hbi5hbXAuaHRtbD9hbXBfanNfdj0wLjEjd2Vidmlldz0xJmNhcD1zd2lwZQ

Inmates at UK's largest prison allowed to lock and unlock their own cells - Fox News

A general view of an entrance at HMP Berwyn on March 15, 2017 in Wrexham, Wales. The mainly category C prison is one of the biggest jails in Europe capable of housing around to 2,100 inmates.  (Getty)

Inmates at the largest UK prison have been given the ability to lock and unlock their cells, along with requesting privacy.

The all-male prison, HMP Berwyn, located in Wales, is the largest prison controlled under the Ministry of Justice. The inmates are majority C-class offenders, meaning they cannot be trusted in open conditions yet they are unlikely to try and escape.

The keys will control when their cells are locked and the level of personal time that makes them comfortable. Officers will also have to knock and ask for permission before entering.

The new privacy policy is an attempt to create a healthier environment for the prisoners, mentally and physically.

THE COLD HARD FACTS ABOUT AMERICA'S PRIVATE PRISON SYSTEM

“Observational evidence from Berwyn supports the concept that giving people custody control over their space also results in them taking care of and respecting their space,” the MoJ reported alongside the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The mainly category C prison is one of the biggest jails in Europe capable of housing around to 2,100 inmates.  (Getty)

There are limits on the freedom of the prisoners. Through a dual lock system controlled by officers, the cells will be locked during the night.

The Victims’ Rights Campaign has spoken out against these relaxed measures, acknowledging the significant cost of an error.

“Giving them their own keys and knocking first gives inmates who are devious the opportunity to hide illicit contraband, phones or drugs,” Harry Fletcher, director for the campaign, told The Telegraph.

AMAZING ALCATRAZ DISCOVERY: LASERS REVEAL LONG-HIDDEN MILITARY TUNNEL AND FORTIFICATIONS

The new prison rules are the effect of a $345 million renovation to the UK jail, granted to the facility for the purpose of creating a more “domestic” environment.

Additional rules inside the prison include referring to the cells as “rooms,” and prisoners as “men.”

“Being given the possibility to personalize their own environments has a wide range of benefits for the health and wellbeing of people in custody,” the MoJ reported.

“Allowing men in custody to control their atmospheric conditions…can alleviate negative wellbeing impacts of poor atmospheric conditions and generate a sense of self-efficacy.”

The MoJ has also approved many newly redesigned prisons in the UK to remove bars from their cell windows and replace it with reinforced glass, allowing more visibility to nature.

The ministry will also give thousands of prisoners personal phones inside their cells, according to Sky News.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

The MoJ and Royal Institute of British Architects have plans to create 5 new prisons with the same ethic design as the Berwyn jail.

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2019-03-30 13:39:37Z
52780253465235

Inmates at UK's largest prison allowed to lock and unlock their own cells - Fox News

A general view of an entrance at HMP Berwyn on March 15, 2017 in Wrexham, Wales. The mainly category C prison is one of the biggest jails in Europe capable of housing around to 2,100 inmates.  (Getty)

Inmates at the largest UK prison have been given the ability to lock and unlock their cells, along with requesting privacy.

The all-male prison, HMP Berwyn, located in Wales, is the largest prison controlled under the Ministry of Justice. The inmates are majority C-class offenders, meaning they cannot be trusted in open conditions yet they are unlikely to try and escape.

The keys will control when their cells are locked and the level of personal time that makes them comfortable. Officers will also have to knock and ask for permission before entering.

The new privacy policy is an attempt to create a healthier environment for the prisoners, mentally and physically.

THE COLD HARD FACTS ABOUT AMERICA'S PRIVATE PRISON SYSTEM

“Observational evidence from Berwyn supports the concept that giving people custody control over their space also results in them taking care of and respecting their space,” the MoJ reported alongside the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The mainly category C prison is one of the biggest jails in Europe capable of housing around to 2,100 inmates.  (Getty)

There are limits on the freedom of the prisoners. Through a dual lock system controlled by officers, the cells will be locked during the night.

The Victims’ Rights Campaign has spoken out against these relaxed measures, acknowledging the significant cost of an error.

“Giving them their own keys and knocking first gives inmates who are devious the opportunity to hide illicit contraband, phones or drugs,” Harry Fletcher, director for the campaign, told The Telegraph.

AMAZING ALCATRAZ DISCOVERY: LASERS REVEAL LONG-HIDDEN MILITARY TUNNEL AND FORTIFICATIONS

The new prison rules are the effect of a $345 million renovation to the UK jail, granted to the facility for the purpose of creating a more “domestic” environment.

Additional rules inside the prison include referring to the cells as “rooms,” and prisoners as “men.”

“Being given the possibility to personalize their own environments has a wide range of benefits for the health and wellbeing of people in custody,” the MoJ reported.

“Allowing men in custody to control their atmospheric conditions…can alleviate negative wellbeing impacts of poor atmospheric conditions and generate a sense of self-efficacy.”

The MoJ has also approved many newly redesigned prisons in the UK to remove bars from their cell windows and replace it with reinforced glass, allowing more visibility to nature.

The ministry will also give thousands of prisoners personal phones inside their cells, according to Sky News.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

The MoJ and Royal Institute of British Architects have plans to create 5 new prisons with the same ethic design as the Berwyn jail.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/inmates-at-uks-largest-prison-allowed-to-lock-and-unlock-their-own-cells

2019-03-30 12:38:29Z
CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZveG5ld3MuY29tL3dvcmxkL2lubWF0ZXMtYXQtdWtzLWxhcmdlc3QtcHJpc29uLWFsbG93ZWQtdG8tbG9jay1hbmQtdW5sb2NrLXRoZWlyLW93bi1jZWxsc9IBsgFodHRwczovL3d3dy1mb3huZXdzLWNvbS5jZG4uYW1wcHJvamVjdC5vcmcvdi9zL3d3dy5mb3huZXdzLmNvbS93b3JsZC9pbm1hdGVzLWF0LXVrcy1sYXJnZXN0LXByaXNvbi1hbGxvd2VkLXRvLWxvY2stYW5kLXVubG9jay10aGVpci1vd24tY2VsbHMuYW1wP2FtcF9qc192PTAuMSN3ZWJ2aWV3PTEmY2FwPXN3aXBl

What now for Britain's troubled Brexit? - ABC News

Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal is all but dead, after lawmakers voted to reject it for a third time Friday — the day Britain had long been scheduled to leave the European Union.

The U.K. now faces a deadline of April 12 to present the EU with a new plan, or crash out of the bloc without an agreement.

Here's a look at what could happen next:

———

NO DEAL

The EU has given Britain until April 12 — two weeks away — to decide whether it wants to ask for another postponement to Brexit. The bloc has called an emergency Brexit summit for April 10 to deal with a British request, or prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

Without a delay, Britain will leave the bloc at 11 p.m. U.K. time (6 p.m. EDT) on April 12 without a divorce agreement to smooth the way. Most politicians, economists and business groups think such a no-deal scenario would be disastrous, erecting customs checks, tariffs and other barriers between Britain and its biggest trading partner.

Parliament has voted repeatedly to rule out a no-deal Brexit — but it remains the default position unless a deal is approved, Brexit is canceled or the EU grants Britain another extension.

———

DELAY AND SOFTEN

The alternative to "no-deal" is to delay Brexit for at least several months while Britain tries to sort out the mess.

The bloc is reluctant to have a departing Britain participate in European Parliament elections in late May, as it would have to do if Brexit is delayed. But EU Council President Donald Tusk has urged the bloc to give Britain the extension if it plans to change course and seek a softer Brexit that keeps close economic ties between Britain and the bloc.

This week lawmakers held a series of "indicative votes" on alternatives to May's deal. The exercise did not provide clarity — all eight options on offer were defeated. But it did hint at a potential compromise. The measure that came closest to a majority called for Britain to remain in a customs union with the EU after it leaves.

May has always ruled that out, because sticking to EU trade rules would limit Britain's ability to forge new trade deals around the world.

But a customs union would ensure U.K. businesses can continue to trade with the EU, and would solve many of the problems that bedevil May's deal. In particular it would remove the need for customs posts and border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

There's a good chance a withdrawal agreement that included a customs union pledge would be approved by Parliament, and welcomed by the EU.

———

ELECTION GAMBLE

Britain is not scheduled to hold a national election until 2022, but the gridlock in Parliament makes a snap vote more likely.

Opposition politicians think the only way forward is an early election that could rearrange Parliament and break the political deadlock. They could try to bring down the government in a no-confidence vote, triggering a general election.

Or the government could pull the trigger itself if it thinks it has nothing to lose.

May promised to quit if her Brexit deal was approved and Britain left the EU in May. Even though it was defeated she will still face huge pressure to resign, paving the way for a Conservative Party leadership contest.

———

NEW REFERENDUM

Another option considered by lawmakers this week called for any deal to be put to public vote in a "confirmatory referendum." The idea has significant support from opposition parties, plus some members of the Conservatives.

The government has ruled out holding another referendum on Britain's EU membership, but could change its mind if there appeared no other way to pass a Brexit deal.

Britain voted by 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the EU in 2016. Since then, polls suggest the "remain" side has gained in strength, but it's far from clear who would win a new referendum. It could leave Britain just as divided over Europe as it is now.

———

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/now-britains-troubled-brexit-62054228

2019-03-30 07:35:39Z
CBMiT2h0dHBzOi8vYWJjbmV3cy5nby5jb20vUG9saXRpY3Mvd2lyZVN0b3J5L25vdy1icml0YWlucy10cm91YmxlZC1icmV4aXQtNjIwNTQyMjjSAZoBaHR0cHM6Ly9hYmNuZXdzLWdvLWNvbS5jZG4uYW1wcHJvamVjdC5vcmcvdi9zL2FiY25ld3MuZ28uY29tL2FtcC9Qb2xpdGljcy93aXJlU3Rvcnkvbm93LWJyaXRhaW5zLXRyb3VibGVkLWJyZXhpdC02MjA1NDIyOD9hbXBfanNfdj0wLjEjd2Vidmlldz0xJmNhcD1zd2lwZQ

Brexit: Theresa May ponders fourth bid to pass deal - BBC News

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Theresa May and her cabinet are looking for ways to bring her EU withdrawal agreement back to the Commons for a fourth attempt at winning MPs' backing.

The PM said the UK would need "an alternative way forward" after her plan was defeated by 58 votes on Friday.

MPs from all parties will test support for other options during a second round of "indicative votes" on Monday.

But government sources have not ruled out a run-off between whichever proves most popular and the PM's Brexit plan.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on Mrs May to change her deal or resign immediately, while Northern Ireland's DUP - which has propped up Mrs May's minority government - also continues to oppose the deal.

The government has so far failed to win over 34 Conservative rebels, including both Remainers and Tory Brexiteers who say the deal still leaves the UK too closely aligned to Europe.

However, a No 10 source indicated the prime minister would continue to seek support in the Commons.

They insisted efforts were "going in the right direction", given the margin of defeat was down from 149 a fortnight ago.

Leave voters registered their anger at the latest rejection, on the day the UK was originally scheduled to leave the EU.

Thousands gathered outside Parliament to protest against the delay, bringing traffic to a standstill.

And the Conservative former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who has campaigned for a further referendum on the deal, lost a vote of no-confidence in his Beaconsfield constituency.

There is every chance that the prime minister will again - with routes outside the normal boundaries - try to make a version of her Brexit deal the end result of all of this.

Despite a third defeat, despite the embarrassment of repeated losses, don't imagine that she is ready to say a permanent farewell to the compromise deal she brokered with the EU or, straightaway, to her time in office.

There is still a belief in the heart of government that there could be a way round, perhaps to include the prime minister's agreed treaty as one of the options that is subject to a series of votes that will be put in front of the Commons next week.

The aspiration, strange as it sounds, for some time now has been to prove to MPs that the deal is the least worst of all the options...

• Read Laura's thoughts in full

Mrs May has until 12 April to seek a longer extension to the negotiation process to avoid the UK leaving without a deal, which most MPs believe could harm business and create disruption at ports.

However, she said any further delay to Brexit was "almost certain" to involve staging elections to the European Parliament in May.

Downing Street later said this was not an "inevitability" but Justice Minister Rory Stewart told BBC Newsnight Friday's vote had been "the last chance" to avoid that.

He said it would take a "miracle" - and the support of up to 150 Conservatives - on Monday for a majority of MPs to back a Brexit option that supported staying in the customs union.

This allows businesses to move goods around the bloc without checks or charges but continued membership would bar the UK from striking independent trade deals.

And BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said: "Leaving it was a Conservative manifesto commitment, and an about-turn on that could tear apart the party from the cabinet down."

---

What happens next?

• Monday, 1 April: MPs hold another set of votes on various Brexit options to see if they can agree on a way forward
• Wednesday, 3 April: Potentially another round of so-called "indicative votes"
• Wednesday, 10 April: Emergency summit of EU leaders to consider any UK request for further extension
• Friday, 12 April: Brexit day, if UK does not seek/EU does not grant further delay
• 23-26 May: European Parliamentary elections

---

The withdrawal agreement is the part of the Brexit deal Mrs May struck with Brussels that sets out how much money the UK must pay to the EU as a settlement, details of the transition period, and the Irish backstop arrangements.

Downing Street said Mrs May would continue to talk to the Democratic Unionist Party about more reassurances over the backstop - the "insurance policy" designed to prevent physical infrastructure at the Irish border.

The DUP says that by temporarily subjecting Northern Ireland to different regulations to the rest of the UK, the backstop would risk a permanent split.

Its Westminster leader Nigel Dodds told Newsnight: "I would stay in the European Union and remain, rather than risk Northern Ireland's position. That's how strongly I feel."

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And Conservative Mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman, who backed Mrs May's deal, told the programme a cross-party solution was needed.

"The prime minister has run out of the road. We need to be setting up a Brexit war cabinet," he said.

After the result of the latest vote was announced, Mr Corbyn said: "The House has been clear, this deal now has to change.

"If the prime minister can't accept that then she must go, not at an indeterminate date in the future but now. So that we can decide the future of this country through a general election."

Will European leaders accept a longer delay to Brexit?

Despite all the drama, the money and time spent by EU leaders on Brexit (summits, dedicated governmental departments, no-deal planning) and all the hard, hard graft put in by the EU and UK negotiating teams, Europe's leaders are asking themselves what there is to show for it all.

Ongoing Brexit divisions in Parliament, in government and in Theresa May's cabinet were on screaming technicolour display again last week.

EU leaders used to use the threat of a no-deal Brexit as a negotiating tactic (as did the UK). They now believe it to be a very real prospect.

That has led to a number of countries - notably France - questioning the logic of delaying Brexit for much longer.

They wonder if the UK will ever unite around a Brexit Way Forward - be it a softer Brexit, no deal or no Brexit.

Would a Brexit extension, allowing for a general election or a second referendum, really settle the issue, they ask?

Read Katya's blog in full

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47756122

2019-03-30 04:26:36Z
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Hundreds of child sex dolls seized at Britain’s borders in crackdown - New York Post

More than a dozen child sex dolls are being seized at Britain’s borders every month, with prosecutors using a Victorian law to crack down on the sick trade.

Customs officials have reported stopping 230 items suspected to be child sex dolls from entering the country in the past 18 months, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

While there is no specific offense of possessing the dolls, prosecutors are being told to go after suspects under existing laws, such as the Customs Consolidation Act of 1876, which bans the import of indecent or obscene articles.

The CPS has identified the law prohibiting the import of illegal materials, along with the Customs and Excise Acts of 1979, as part of a new effort to close a legal loophole under which there is no specific offense for possessing the dolls.

Now anyone caught trying to bring in the dolls, which are manufactured to allow adults to engage in sex acts with them, could be jailed for up to seven years.

This was how Brian Leach, 62, from Maidstone in Kent, ended up being handed a 28-week jail sentence last month.

He was arrested after ordering a 3-foot-tall doll from China, which was worth $650, before admitting the importation offense as well as making indecent images of a child.

Despite his claims that the doll was to be a companion, police said the package included accessories “which clearly indicated it to be an object for sexual gratification.”

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has welcomed the new measures and hoped it would “clamp down” on distributors and act as a “deterrent” to potential buyers.

“There is no ambiguity that they are designed to depict children and their purpose is to stimulate sex,” a spokesperson said.

“We have serious worries that adults who use sex dolls could become desensitized and their behavior would become normal to them so that they go on to harm children.”

Investigations have also started with a suspect being caught with a doll, before being charged with separate offenses.

On Wednesday, Donald Styles, 61, from Newton Abbot in Devon, was jailed for 18 months for possession and making indecent photographs.

Styles claimed he’d purchased the 3-foot doll from China for an art project after it was intercepted at customs.

Police raided his home and found 149 films and images of child abuse, including rape.

A judge said his story was “ridiculous” and jailed him for 18 months.

“There is no place in society for these dolls. Importing them is a crucial flag to potential offending against children,” National Crime Agency specialist operations manager Hazel Stewart said.

She added that 20 of 26 recent offenders convicted over child sex dolls were also found with indecent images of children.

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https://nypost.com/2019/03/29/hundreds-of-child-sex-dolls-seized-at-britains-borders-in-crackdown/

2019-03-29 17:47:00Z
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Theresa May’s Brexit Deal Is Rejected by U.K. Parliament - The New York Times

• With Britain in political crisis and a new deadline to leave the European Union two weeks away, Parliament on Friday rejected, by a vote of 334 to 286, Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan for a third time.

• Lawmakers voted down the 585-page withdrawal agreement, which details Britain’s relationship to the European Union through the end of 2020.

• The vote means that Britain is moving closer to a withdrawal on April 12 without an agreement — the “no-deal” scenario that many economists and officials have warned would do serious economic damage. The only alternative may be a long delay, a move opposed by pro-Brexit lawmakers.

• In a bid to win over hard-line Brexit supporters, Mrs. May promised Conservative lawmakers this week that she would step down as prime minister if the deal were approved. She had hoped that enough lawmakers would reverse course, despite their concerns, rather than risk crashing out without a deal.

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Prime Minister Theresa May has offered to step aside if Parliament approves her withdrawal plan.CreditJessica Taylor/UK Parliament, via Reuters

May is rejected for a third time, adding to political turmoil

British lawmakers on Friday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for withdrawing from the European Union for the third time, leaving her policy in ruins and casting the nation’s politics into further confusion with the scheduled departure date looming two weeks away.

The vote on Friday might have been Mrs. May’s last chance to succeed on the issue that has dominated and defined her time in office, and the result left open an array of possibilities, including renewed demands for her resignation, early parliamentary elections and a second referendum.

The defeat, while narrower than in the previous two votes, appears to leave the increasingly weakened prime minister with two unpalatable options in the short run:

Britain can leave the bloc on April 12 without an agreement in place, a chaotic and potentially economically damaging withdrawal that threatens to leave the country with a shortage of food and medicine; or Mrs. May can ask European leaders — who have ruled out a short delay if her plan failed — for what would almost certainly be a long postponement.

“The implications of the house’s decision are grave,” she said after the vote, warning that it was not guaranteed that the bloc would give Britain more time.

The European Commission posted on Twitter, “ ‘No-deal’ scenario on 12 April is now a likely scenario.”

Hoping to win over Brexit hard-liners in her Conservative Party, Mrs. May promised lawmakers this week that she would step down if her plan were approved, giving the party a chance to choose a leader more to their liking to oversee the next round of negotiations. That got her some votes, but not enough.

Mrs. May has seen party discipline and her own authority shredded by successive parliamentary defeats, cabinet resignations and party defections over Brexit, and the vote on Friday left her even more battered — but apparently still in office.

In January, Parliament rejected her plan, 432 to 202 — a historic margin of defeat for a prime minister’s bill. A second vote on March 12 was another defeat, 391 to 242.

“If you want to deliver Brexit, this is the moment,” Mrs. May told Parliament before the vote.

But Parliament rebuffed her once again.

Video

The future of the Irish border has been a contentious issue during Britain’s Brexit negotiations. We went to Northern Ireland, where residents worry that the free flow of goods and people could end once the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

What exactly were lawmakers voting on?

Parliament has twice rejected Mrs. May’s proposal, but this time there was a twist: Lawmakers were only voting on the withdrawal agreement, the legally binding part of the deal.

They set aside a decision on the nonbinding “political declaration,” a statement of what both sides want in Britain’s long-term relationship with the European Union. The two parts were separated to get around a procedural rule that had complicated Mrs. May’s efforts at a third attempt to get the deal through.

Mrs. May told Parliament that if lawmakers approved the withdrawal agreement, they would still have an opportunity to vote for a larger bill that would include the agreement — an assessment some Labour members disputed.

What Is Brexit? A Simple Guide to Why It Matters and What Happens Next

The basics of Brexit, the troubled plan for Britain to quit the European Union.

The withdrawal agreement sets the terms of a transition period after Britain leaves the bloc, while long-term arrangements are negotiated. It would last through the end of 2020, but could be extended for two years.

[Interested in our Brexit coverage? Join the conversation on April 1, and hear how our reporters in London are tracking these updates.]

It lays out in detail the nation’s trade relationship with the bloc, keeping Britain tied, at least temporarily, to many European Union tariff, product and immigration rules, protecting trade ties and the rights of the bloc’s citizens who are already living in Britain.

This agreement also includes language dealing with the border between Ireland, a European Union member country, and Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom — a confounding and divisive issue that has proved to be the biggest sticking point in Parliament.

At the moment, goods and people flow freely between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Under the withdrawal agreement, that arrangement would continue even if the two sides have not reached a long-term pact by the end of 2020, under a provision known as the backstop.

The backstop would keep Britain, and particularly Northern Ireland, tied to many European Union rules, to avoid building physical barriers on the border. That is anathema to many Brexit supporters, who fear that it could leave Britain permanently beholden to the bloc.

Prominent Brexit supporters vowed to back May’s deal

There was little expectation that Mrs. May’s plan would be approved, but in the hours before the vote a steady stream of lawmakers did promise to switch their votes and support her.

Dominic Raab, a former Brexit secretary and one of the most hard-line Conservative supporters of withdrawal, said on Friday that he would drop his opposition.

He was switching, he said, because there was “a significant risk of losing Brexit altogether,” referring to concerns that Britain might be forced to seek a longer extension, which would give opponents of Brexit more time to muster support to fight withdrawal.

Writing on Twitter, Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary who has been an vocal critic of Mrs. May’s proposal, said that he would support it, although it was “very painful to vote for this deal.”

Iain Duncan Smith, a staunch Brexit supporter and a former leader of the Conservative Party, said that he would vote for the deal. Ross Thomson, who voted against it twice, also said that he would change his vote.

But Mrs. May’s prospects were largely dependent on how many opposition lawmakers she could win over, and she fell far short of that threshold.

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Brexit supporters outside Parliament on Friday.CreditMatt Dunham/Associated Press

Outside Parliament, little love for the E.U.

“Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!”

With those words, pro-Brexit activists congregated outside Parliament on Friday morning, heaping anger on lawmakers who they said were thwarting the results of the 2016 referendum.

The crowd in the morning was sparse but grew as the day went on, with people drinking tea from thermoses, waving Union Jack flags and holding placards denouncing, among other things, “anti-British globalists.”

The protesters, most of them men, cut a striking contrast with the hundreds of thousands who turned out for an anti-Brexit march in London last weekend.

“We should be leaving now,” Paul Ellis, the legal officer of the For Britain Movement, said as he was walking toward Parliament Square. “As of today, Parliament no longer has the permission of the people to surrender power to the European Union.”

If Parliament votes to delay or stop Brexit, he said before Parliament acted on Friday, “It means that Britain is no longer a democracy.”

After arriving at Parliament Square, he unfurled his group’s banner in front of a statue of Winston Churchill.

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Thousands of protesters gathered in London last week to demand a public vote on the government’s final Brexit deal.CreditDan Kitwood/Getty Images

Opposition complains that the government has made things less clear

What is a blindfold Brexit?

That is the name the opposition Labour Party has given to Mrs. May’s ploy of splitting her deal in two: a withdrawal agreement that gets Britain out of the European Union’s door, and a political declaration that says where it is supposed to go from there.

For tactical reasons, the Conservative government wanted Parliament to vote on them separately. But Labour leaders said that asking lawmakers to vote on the first, without the road map provided by the second, was like putting a blindfold on Parliament.

Making matters worse for Labour, Mrs. May promised to resign if her deal passed, leaving future negotiations in a new Conservative leader’s hands. That could very well be a hard-line Brexiteer, and Labour fears that such a leader would cut trading ties with Europe at the risk of hurting Britain’s economy.

“It could be a Boris Johnson Brexit, a Jacob Rees-Mogg Brexit, or a Michael Gove Brexit,” said Keir Starmer, a senior Labour lawmaker, referring to various pro-Brexit Conservatives.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, compared that to playing “roulette with this country’s future.”

Some Labour members proposed an amendment to Mrs. May’s deal that would have given Parliament some say in shaping the political declaration — a way of taking off the figurative blindfold. But the speaker of the House of Commons did not select the amendment for a vote.

Some British news outlets reported on Friday that, in a desperate bid to win the backing of Labour members, the government was offering money to finance projects in their districts.

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A security agent checking trucks this month at Coquelles, France, a border inspection post built in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit.CreditPhilippe Huguen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

What comes next?

Like many moments in Britain’s prolonged journey, it’s not entirely clear.

Britain was originally set to leave the European Union on Friday, but European leaders agreed last week to a short extension.

Now that lawmakers have rejected it again, and if Britain takes no further action, it would withdraw on April 12 without an agreement — an option wanted by neither the European Union nor most British lawmakers.

Mrs. May could once again ask Brussels for more time. But European leaders have said that they would be open in such a case only to a long extension, possibly of a year or more, to allow for a fundamental rethinking of Britain’s position.

“The European Union have been clear that any further extension will need to have a clear purpose,” she said after the vote, and would require agreement by the heads of government of Britain and the other 27 member nations.

Minutes after Parliament defeated the plan, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, one of the European Union’s governing bodies, announced that, in light of the vote, he was calling a council meeting on April 10.

A long postponement would require Britain to elect representatives to the European Parliament in voting that would take place from May 23 to 26 in all member states. If Britain chose not to take part, it would leave with no deal at 11 p.m. London time on April 12.

Both Labour and Scottish National Party leaders said that Mrs. May should call an early general election. The deadlock in London could force Mrs. May to go that route, and it could also build support for a second referendum.

In addition, Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party, said, “We must now look seriously at the option of revocation” of Article 50, the provision of the Lisbon Treaty that Britain invoked to leave the European Union.

With Mrs. May’s promise to step down, approval of the agreement would have set off a fight among Conservatives to choose a new leader.

Many people in Britain and on the Continent are getting tired of the uncertainty. Among them is Jon Worth, a political consultant who has been making (and remaking) flowcharts to map the potential outcomes of the withdrawal process.

Mr. Worth, who works as a communications consultant for European politicians, has made 27 versions of his Brexit flowcharts, mapping every twist and turn in the political saga.

After a 2-year wait to celebrate ‘Independence Day’ … more waiting

For Brexit supporters, March 29 — the originally scheduled day of Britain’s official departure from the European Union — was supposed to be one big party, with a gala celebration at 11 p.m.

Big Ben, currently silenced by a renovation of the famous London clock tower, was to emerge from the scaffolding to chime Britain out of the European Union, sounding the death knell for 45 years of European integration. A commemorative coin was planned by the Royal Mint.

Either March 29 or June 23, the date of the 2016 referendum to leave the bloc, was supposed to be established as “Independence Day.” But the champagne is still on ice.

“I dearly wish we could be toasting Britain’s freedom with champagne at 11 p.m. on Friday, just as we’d planned,” said Allison Pearson, a columnist for the stridently pro-Brexit Daily Telegraph. “Under the circumstances, half a glass of Tizer and Nurofen is more like it,” she said, referring to a British soft drink and a painkiller.

Asked this month about the fate of the March 29 commemorative coins, the chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said he was unsure whether they had actually been made. If so, he told the BBC, “they will become collectors’ pieces.”

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Bookmakers’ odds on probable contenders for prime minister were displayed outside Parliament on Thursday.CreditDan Kitwood/Getty Images

Who could be the next prime minister?

“I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party,” Mrs. May told Conservative lawmakers gathered in a meeting room in Parliament this week, as she announced plans to step aside if her Brexit plan were approved. “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.”

After the surprise offer on Wednesday, political analysts were quick to speculate about who might replace her. Her departure, which would not come before the May 22 withdrawal date, would leave the Conservative Party to select a new leader to see the process through.

Candidates for party leadership have to be nominated by two other members of Parliament, though if there is only one candidate, he or she automatically becomes the new leader. If more than two candidates emerge, lawmakers vote among themselves to narrow the field and then put two candidates to a vote by all party members, not just those in Parliament.

There is no obvious front-runner, but British bookmakers are already offering odds on some of the politicians they believe to be probable contenders for the job. They include hard-line Brexit supporters, vocal critics of the prime minister’s approach and supporters of her strategy.

Here’s a look at potential successors who have been given the best odds at clinching the role.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/world/europe/theresa-may-brexit.html

2019-03-29 16:10:27Z
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