Britons voted in 2016 to quit the bloc, in a simple yes-or-no referendum that offered no guidance on what sort of relationship should replace membership. Since then, Mrs. May’s government has been torn between those who want to keep close economic ties to the European Union in order to protect the economy, and those who want a clean break.
Many of those issues will remain unresolved until trade negotiations, which would take place during the transition period. An outline deal on those plans is expected to be reasonably vague.
In recent weeks, talks had stalled over the divorce terms to be spelled out in a withdrawal agreement, particularly over the backstop plan for the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland, which will remain in the European Union.
Conservative, pro-Brexit hard-liners fear that a plan to prevent border checks might keep the United Kingdom tied indefinitely to European customs rules, preventing it from striking free trade deals further afield. They want a mechanism under which the government in London could quit unilaterally, something the European Union has adamantly resisted.
But there is opposition among pro-Europe Conservatives too, a fact that was underscored last week when Jo Johnson quit his post as a rail minister. Mr. Johnson — the brother of the pro-Brexit former foreign secretary Boris Johnson — campaigned to remain in the European Union. But in a withering resignation statement, he accused Mrs. May of drawing up plans that presented lawmakers with a choice between “vassalage and chaos.”
Nevertheless the conclusion of a draft deal is a big moment for Mrs. May.
For more than a year, she has tried her best to avoid confrontation with hard-line supporters of Brexit who oppose her strategy and want a clearer rupture with the European Union. Two pro-Brexit cabinet ministers have quit — Mr. Johnson as foreign secretary and David Davis as Brexit secretary — but most have remained inside the cabinet.
They now have to decide whether her compromise plan is good enough to keep their support.
One influential pro-Brexit lawmaker, Steve Baker, said on Tuesday that about 50 pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers might oppose Mrs. May’s deal.
Source : Nytimes
