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British government steps up 'no-deal' Brexit preparations

18 December 2018 19:20 (UTC+04:00)
British government steps up 'no-deal' Brexit preparations

By Trend

Prime Minister Theresa May and her ministers will on Tuesday step up preparations for a “no deal” Brexit, an outcome made more likely by a deadlock in parliament over the British leader’s divorce deal with the European Union, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

With just over 100 days until Britain is due to leave the EU, May is yet to win the support of a deeply divided parliament for the deal she struck last month with Brussels to maintain close ties with the bloc.

She has said a delayed vote on her deal will take place in mid-January, prompting some lawmakers to accuse her of trying to force parliament into backing it by running close to the March 29 exit day.

May, who last week survived a confidence vote within her Conservative Party, has warned lawmakers that the alternatives to her deal are leaving without an agreement or no Brexit.

“We’re going to be discussing ‘no deal’ planning today,” International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt told reporters. “It’s absolutely right that we step up ‘no deal’ planning now. Not only do we need to prepare the country, but it’s also the best way that we will ensure that we get a deal.”

This month, finance minister Philip Hammond said he had made more than 4.2 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) available for Brexit planning since the 2016 referendum and would be allocating a further 2 billion pounds to government departments.

May’s spokesman said that would be done “shortly”.

Britain’s economy has slowed since the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU and there is no guarantee that businesses and consumers will retain tariff-free access to European goods after Brexit.

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