Tag: Waffle

Play Video 1:12 Theresa May has attempted to sell her Brexit plan to MPs by reassuring rebel Conservatives over issues such as the Irish backstop, fishing and Gibraltar, but received a chilly reception from both Brexiters and remainers. She was taking questions for two and a half hours in the Commons after the UK and the EU agreed a text for the political declaration on the “framework for the future relationship”. It is the document setting out a blueprint for the future trade deal, which is set to be approved alongside the withdrawal agreement at an emergency summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Sunday. If anything, the reception May received in the Commons from Tory Brexiters and from the opposition this afternoon was even more hostile than it was a week ago today when she answered questions on the withdrawal agreement. The Tory loyalists who defended her plan were in a distinct minority, and the parliamentary reaction makes it very hard to see how she will win the “meaningful vote” when MPs debate the plan at some point in the next few weeks. Here is the document in full. And here is an analysis by Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin. The government has hit back at criticism over fishing rights in a leaked document on Britain’s post-Brexit relationship, saying UK negotiators had secured an agreement that the EU’s future access to British waters would not be linked to trade. That’s all from me for tonight. Thanks for the comments.