May under siege to ditch Brexit plan

Bloomberg

Pressure is building on UK PM Theresa May to ditch her Brexit plan or face a catastrophic defeat in Parliament.
Britain and the European Union have been edging towards an agreement after 16 months of talks, with the aim of getting a deal wrapped up at a summit in November. But as domestic opposition builds, momentum seems to be fading for getting a deal done quickly.
The Cabinet had been expected to meet as soon as Monday to sign off on May’s plans, but late on Sunday there was no sign of further progress, according to three people familiar with the matter.
If May wants a deal sealed in November — as investors and businesses hope — this week is probably the last chance to corral her divided Cabinet.
Getting any divorce deal through a bitterly divided Parliament was always going to be May’s biggest challenge. But as the various factions who oppose May’s approach step up their warnings, it’s looking even trickier than her whips may have calculated.
Pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers joined forces on Sunday with the Northern Irish party that props up May’s minority government. They threatened to reject the deal she’s working on, even if she persuades the Cabinet to approve it in the coming days.
“If the government makes the historic mistake of prioritising placating the EU over establishing an independent and whole UK, then regrettably we must vote against the deal,” Steve Baker, a former Conservative minister, and Sammy Wilson, Brexit spokesman for the Democratic Unionist Party, wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.
Brexiteers want a clean break with the EU so Britain can pursue its own trade deals around the world and regain control over regulations and legislation. They fear that the guarantees May’s offering to avoid checks at the border with Ireland risk tying the UK to European rules indefinitely. Northern Irish lawmakers are concerned the region will end up being treated differently to Britain.