PM May rejects calls for vote delay, Brexit vote will go on - Reuters

According to reporting by Reuters, UK Prime Minister Theresa May's office announced in no uncertain terms that December 11th will be seeing a parliamentary vote on her current Withdrawal Proposal from the EU, and sources within PM May's own government, who claim to be concerned about her political longevity in the face of calls for a no-confidence vote, are reporting that multiple avenues have been brought to PM May recently in bids to try and salvage May's party from the brink, with the current state of things strongly suggesting that the current Withdrawal Agreement will not pass muster in the UK's House of Commons on Tuesday.

Key quotes

With parliament mid-way through a five-day debate on the Brexit deal before the vote on Tuesday which will define Britain’s departure from the EU and could determine May’s future as leader, she looks set to lose the vote. 

The Times newspaper reported that senior ministers were urging May to delay the vote for fear of a rout and several lawmakers said they suspected the government may try something to postpone what would be a game-changing defeat.

“The vote will take place on Tuesday as planned,” May’s spokeswoman said. The House of Commons leader, Andrea Leadsom, also told parliament the vote would go ahead on Dec. 11.

But any such delay would anger lawmakers. Both opponents and allies alike have spent days criticising the agreement, especially the backstop, intended to ensure there is no return to a hard border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland.

Brexit supporters and May’s nominal allies in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party say it could leave Britain forced to accept EU regulations indefinitely, or Northern Ireland treated differently from the rest of the United Kingdom.

EU supporters say Britain would become little more than a rule-taker, offering the worst of all worlds. Many want to see the government lose on Tuesday.

But EU negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday the deal was the best Britain will get, while British finance minister Philip Hammond said it was “simply a delusion” to think the agreement could be renegotiated if parliament rejects it.