Five percent? EU leaders doubt May's Brexit vote chances
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Following more than an hour of explanations that with days left until Britain might crash out she could win over lawmakers who have twice rejected her EU withdrawal deal, May left the summit room on Thursday and the other 27 leaders conferred — finding a consensus that they were even less convinced than before, officials familiar with their discussions told Reuters.
French President Emmanuel Macron told the room that before coming to Brussels he had thought May had only a 10 percent chance of winning the vote. After listening to the prime minister, he said, he had cut his estimate — to five percent.
To general assent, one person present said, summit chair Donald Tusk shot back that Macron was being “very optimistic”.
After hours of discussion, the leaders agreed to delay Brexit beyond the deadline of next Friday — but possibly only to April 12 or into May, trying to shift responsibility for any chaotic no-deal outcome back to London from Brussels.
Initial image: Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after giving a news briefing in Brussels, Belgium March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville
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The Union's leaders' exasperation is palpable.
The EU and UK negotiated an accord months ago. The UK has been dithering ever since.
This will not end well.
I said way back before May took power that the UK would eventually end up staying in EU. It's looking like that could really happen. Crashing out would greatly harm the UK economy.
The UK' "leaders" are so feckless that I would not dare guess what they will or will not do. It's about as predictable as roulette.
True.
The never ending saga.
The sad thing is that it will in fact end one day... and the very great likelihood is that it will not end well.
Indeed it will and the ending may be a disaster for the UK.