Theresa May plays the "catastrophe" card on Brexit the only arrow left to his bow to desperately try to find a solution to the current chaos. As widely expected, the so-called plan B presented to Parliament on January 21 did not convince anyone: neither the majority nor the opposition. The reason is obvious: this new project is a certified copy of the agreement rejected last week in Westminster, seasoned however with some concessions on the backstop (the theoretical guarantee mechanism imposed by the EU to ensure the open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland) and by promises relating to further "negotiations" with Brussels to which, however, he has already received a negative response from the EU.
It is therefore impossible for plan B to be received differently, despite the talks (useless at this point) carried out in recent days with the parties in Parliament.
May therefore appeals to what now seems to have become a mantra: Brexit will start on March 29 and the hypothesis of a postponement is not practicable. Nor is that of a second referendum re-proposed by Labor's Jeremy Corbyn. If the House of Commons does not approve his agreement, the bogeyman "No deal" will become real, with catastrophic consequences for the British economy. A real aut-aut that becomes more and more threatening as the official release date approaches. And it is precisely this "threat" that May relies on to make her parliamentarians give in. "Vote for the lesser evil" seems to be the Premier's proposal.
In parallel, the Downing Street tenant will try to snatch a few more concessions from the EU. Aware of the difficulties of his mission, in the next few days he will fly back to Brussels trying to ask for some changes on the backstop. For his part, the EU no longer knows how to reiterate that there will be no step back on the agreement signed in November. Either this, or nothing, also because to reopen negotiations would require unanimity among the 27 heads of state and government of the Union. The EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, limited himself to granting some modifications to the political declaration attached to the agreement, but the latter remains untouchable. Translated into simple words: we can change the way we describe it, but not what it involves.
Returning to the UK, the new date to be marked in red on the calendar will be January 29, the day when the agreement will go back to the parliament again to be amended by the deputies. The problem, at this juncture, is that given the gaps between the parties, it will be difficult for Westminster to be able to approve a uniform text that can bring at least the different souls present in the parties that support the Government into agreement. The ok of the opposition is in fact pure utopia. the Labor leader, Jeremy Corbyn has in fact confirmed his unavailability to meet the Premier until she "clearly rules out the No Deal", but he also increased the dose with an amendment aimed at forcing the government to give parliament time to consider and vote on possible options to prevent a no deal exit. Prominent among the proposed options are the UK remaining in the single market and customs union and “a public vote on a deal” which would de facto result in a second referendum. Options that for conservatives are equivalent to "absolute evil".
