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UK Parliament gave Prime Minister Theresa May the power to trigger Article 50, a formal process to withdraw from European Union. She is expected to send the letter to begin the process by the end of March. European Union Bill reached UK Parliament to be discussed after House of Commons and House of Lords battled over the bill’s contents, with the status of EU nationals in Britain and Britons in fellow EU member countries in focus.
Both British and EU officials have said such residents should be guaranteed the right to stay where they are, but the two sides have so far failed to provide a concrete guarantee, leaving millions of people in limbo.
May was forced to seek Parliament’s approval for the move after a Supreme Court ruling in January torpedoed her attempt to start the process of leaving the bloc without a parliamentary vote.
But the Parliament’s green signal to government over Brexit has also brought a new challenge for Theresa May. The prospect of Scotland’s exit from the United Kingdom is looming large. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for a referendum on independence within two years to stop Scotland being dragged out of the EU against its will.
Sturgeon has unequivocally said that she would hold referendum between the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019, giving Scots a choice about their future.
Although Britons overall voted to leave the EU, Scottish voters backed remaining by 62 to 38 percent. Sturgeon said they should not be forced to follow the rest of the UK into a hard Brexit outside the EU single market. In a 2014 referendum, Scottish voters rejected independence by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. But Sturgeon said the UK’s decision to leave the EU has changed the circumstances.
Sturgeon’s announcement took many London politicians by surprise. She vowed that Scotland would not be taken down a path without a choice. May called Sturgeon’s announcement deeply regrettable.
The British government has said firmly that it will not backtrack on Brexit. And domestic political pressures make it unlikely that the government would try a U-turn. The fact on the ground is that people have voted for Brexit and that must be respected. The first major battle is likely to be about money. The EU says Britain must pay a hefty divorce bill of up to 60 billion euros, to cover EU staff pensions and other expenses the UK has committed to.
But the situation of the EU migrants is most precarious. Brexit has created uncertainty for 3 million EU citizens living in the UK, and 1 million Britons who reside in the 27 other nations of the bloc. Both sides should avoid using these people as pawn or bargaining chip in their negotiations. Both parties must agree to guarantee that they will be able to stay where they are.