The political fight about the BREXIT in deadlocked Britain has become so noisy that Prime Minister Theresa May is besieged and, unfortunately, almost paralyzed. Her Conservatives are bitterly divided on this damn BREXIT. The sniping and sabotage, the resignations and political insurrections, the continuous infighting are taking their toll on Mrs May and seriously threatening a leadership challenge. Even the EU seems to be preparing for such a scenario, for more chaos and for all outcomes in the event that Mrs May suddenly calls for an early election.

Mrs May's Chequers plan was attacked from different sides. She even tried to cave in to hard-line BREXIT enthusiasts and accepted some amendments to her plan to make the deal unpalatable to the European side.

Ironically, the 2016 BREXIT referendum was called by Mrs May's predecessor, David Cameron, to end Conservative Party divisions over Europe. However that backfired when senior figures, including Boris Johnson, campaigned to quit the EU, promising that Britain could retain the benefits of its economic ties to Europe, strike free trade deals around the globe, keep the money it sends to the EU, and take back control of all immigration policy.

There is another problem for Mrs May: the Ireland problem, another delicate issue which leads to a broader question about what kind of access a post-BREXIT Britain could, or could not, have to Europe's single market.

Nobody has the faintest idea what will happen in the next few weeks or months. The risk for Mrs May and for Britain is real: a political deadlock in Britain with Britain drifting toward the cliff edge. Let us hope that this will not be the case and that Mrs May survives.

 

Joseph Zarb

Birkirkara