Opposition to May's Brexit Plan Threatens to Derail Negotiations
*By Chloe Aiello*
British Prime Minister Theresa May finally garnered European Union support for her Brexit plan, but unrest at home threatens to dismantle negotiations ー and lawmakers have warned there is no plan B.
"The worst case scenario for many, particularly for anyone who is a 'Remainer,' is that we leave the EU without a deal in place at all," Ayesha Javed, Deputy Editor of The Wall Street Journal's WSJ City, told Cheddar on Monday.
The 585-page deal is designed to keep the United Kingdom within the EU's economic orbit through a transitional period, after which those ties will slowly weaken. The deal includes provisions to prevent a hard border in Ireland, [according to the Guardian,](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/14/theresa-mays-brexit-deal-everything-you-need-to-know) and guarantees some legal protections for the millions of EU citizens living in the U.K. and vice versa. Much of the focus of the deal has been on goods, rather than on financial services, Javed added, and details concerning trade and securities must still be ironed out.
"The idea is to keep trade as friction-less as possible, although that seems unlikely to happen," she added.
By approving May's plan in Brussels on Sunday, the European Union lawmakers implicitly threw their support behind May, as she works to ensure U.K. Parliament votes to approve the agreement on Dec. 12. She faces tremendous opposition.
"There are lawmakers, for example on the opposition Labour side, who say that the deal goes too far. Some are still pushing for a second referendum. There are others within Theresa May's Conservative Party who say that the deal doesn't go far enough," Javed said. "Some say that this deal is the worst of all worlds. And others say this is just a compromise that Theresa May has had to come up with."
EU leaders have warned there is no alternative to the negotiated deal. If U.K. Parliament slaps it down, a few different things could happen.
In the event the deal dies in Parliament, May could request more time from the EU, although Javed said she doubts an extension would be approved. Alternatively, May could face a leadership challenge from within her own party. Lastly, "Remainers," or those who prefer the U.K. remain part of the EU, could opt for another referendum on Brexit. That, Javed said, would be "an extreme scenario," because in pushing for a referendum, the U.K. could ultimately end up leaving the EU with no deal at all.
A no-deal Brexit would "cause huge disruption at the borders, it would mean tariffs and checks at the borders, and all sorts of unforeseen circumstances, and so that's something that a lot of lawmakers are very keen to avoid," Javed said.
"So while many might try to hold out for another referendum, it could go entirely the other way," she added.
The U.K. is scheduled to officially leave the EU on Mar. 29, 2019.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.