Gordon Brown, the former U.K. prime minister, said there is no chance Theresa May will get her proposed Brexit deal through Parliament next week and suggested the current prime minister could lose her job over it.
Speaking at an event in London co-hosted by Financial News and Project Syndicate, Brown said: “The deal won’t go through in its present form. There will be an attempt to renegotiate but under who, I don’t know — either her [May] or someone else. But that’s a matter for the Conservative Party.”
His comments come as May tries to convince a divided Parliament to back the Brexit agreement she reached with Brussels in November.
Brexit briefing: London’s mayor proposes that prime minister revoke Brexit notification
U.K. politicians are set to vote on the deal on Dec. 11, but many, across all political parties, have already stated their intention to oppose it on the grounds that it leaves the U.K. too exposed to EU lawmaking.
Don’t miss: Theresa May absorbed three sharp blows as steward of U.K.’s Brexit process — and that was just Tuesday
Brown, who backs calls for a second Brexit referendum, said: “Now is not the time to be detached from Europe. To think the 1% trade activity we have with New Zealand or South Africa or the 15% we have with America can replace what will be been lost from Europe is simply wrong.”
He added: “Brexit cannot solve the problems of wage stagnation and the decline in manufacturing in this country. Whichever [way] we look at it, we are in for a period of prolonged uncertainty. Even if we get a deal next week, the issue is far from over — it is just Act 1. There are years of discussion and debate ahead.”
If May fails in her efforts next week, she could face a vote of no confidence in her leadership — a move that could both topple the prime minister and trigger a general election.
According to the latest betting odds, Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing leader of the opposition — Labour, Brown’s former party — is the favorite to become Britain’s next prime minister.
London’s ultrarich are already making plans to protect their assets in such an eventuality, with an estimated £1 trillion in assets earmarked to be moved out of the U.K. if Labour were able to form a government.
British sterling
GBPUSD, -0.0156%
has slumped from $1.47 against the U.S. dollar at 4 p.m. on June 23, 2016, the day the U.K. voted to leave the EU, to $1.27 at the same time Thursday.
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Source : MTV
