Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

Senior ministers are set for a showdown on the UK's future relationship with the EU after it emerged that a key element of the plan has still not been agreed by the Cabinet.

Plans for a “backstop” customs option were due to be published on Thursday but could be delayed amid a row between Theresa May and David Davis, the Brexit Secretary.

Appearing to confirm that there remain major divisions within the Cabinet, Mr Davis admitted the proposal would only be published once ministers have agreed on it.

The row centres on how to manage the Northern Ireland border - one of the most contentious areas of Brexit negotiations. The backstop option, agreed in principle by the Cabinet last month, would see the UK remain in part of the EU customs union if no other option for avoiding a hard border is found.
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The UK's proposed "backstop" plan for trade with the EU after Brexit has been published after an "expected" end date - of 2021 - was included in it.

It followed crunch meetings between Prime Minister Theresa May and Brexit Secretary David Davis, who insisted a cut-off date be included.

The proposal would see the UK match EU trade tariffs temporarily in order to avoid a hard Irish border post-Brexit.

Brexiteers want to ensure the backstop could not continue indefinitely.

Responding on Twitter, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier set out the criteria on which he would judge the UK's proposal, including the need for a "workable solution" to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said Mr Davis had "pushed back very hard" against the proposals on Wednesday and had two meetings with the prime minister on Thursday before a deal was agreed.

After the publication, Mr Davis's chief of staff said there had been a "helpful dialogue" and that the document had now been "clarified and amended".

According to the document - which has yet to be agreed with the EU - the "temporary customs arrangement", if it is needed, would be "time-limited".

A long-term "future customs arrangement" will be in place "by the end of December 2021 at the latest", it says.

Mrs May also held meetings earlier with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.

Boris Johnson has warned of a Brexit “meltdown” and branded the Treasury the “heart of remain” in unguarded comments at a private dinner.

At the gathering of the Conservative Way Forward, a Thatcherite campaign group, he said exit talks were approaching a “moment of truth”. The foreign secretary said he believed Brexit will happen and would be “irreversible” but the “risk is that it will not be the one we want”.

In comments captured in a recording obtained by BuzzFeed News, he said Theresa May was “going to go into a phase where we are much more combative with Brussels”. He added: “You’ve got to face the fact there may now be a meltdown. OK? I don’t want anybody to panic during the meltdown. No panic. Pro bono publico, no bloody panic. It’s going to be all right in the end.”

A junior member of Theresa May's government has resigned ahead of a key Parliamentary debate on legislation regarding Britain's departure from the European Union.

Conservative lawmaker Phillip Lee, who voted in Britain's 2016 referendum to remain in the European Union, resigned as a justice minister so he could vote against the government on a measure that would give Parliament more power over the terms of the break.

"The people, economy and culture of my constituency will be affected negatively" by Britain's EU departure and it is "irresponsible to proceed as we are," Lee said.

He called for Brexit, now set for March 2019, to be delayed and for the public to get a second referendum on the terms of any exit deal.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, and the bloc is frustrated with what it sees as a lack of firm proposals from the U.K about future relations.

A paper laying out the U.K. government position, due to be published this month, has been delayed because the Cabinet cannot agree on a united stance.

Ivan Rogers, Britain's former ambassador to the EU, told a committee of lawmakers Tuesday that achieving Brexit would "take years" and be "bloody difficult."

"You should view leaving the European Union as a process," not an event, he said.

Theresa May has staved off a major Commons defeat on her key Brexit legislation by offering a last-minute concession to pro-EU rebels in her own party.

The government secured a knife-edge victory by overturning a Lords bid for a "meaningful vote" over the final Brexit deal during a dramatic day of votes on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

In a major climbdown, Robert Buckland, the solicitor general, told the Commons that ministers would consider key aspects of a compromise amendment by Tory MP Dominic Grieve, which would give MPs more control over the outcome if parliament rejects Ms May’s deal.

Negotiations went down to the wire as the prime minister reportedly summoned rebels to her Commons office to win them over shortly before voting began.

The government’s chief whip Julian Smith could also be seen speaking to rebels MPs in the chamber during the debate in a frenzied attempt to head off a revolt.

British Prime Minister Theresa May avoided a major upset in the House of Commons on Tuesday after lawmakers rejected a series of proposed amendments to her Brexit blueprint.

One of the key amendments handed down from the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament, would have granted lawmakers the power to reject the Brexit deal and force the government to return to the negotiating table just months before the UK is slated to leave the EU next March.

However, the government narrowly defeated the bid with the House of Commons voting 324 to 298 against the amendment — albeit only after May agreed to a series of last-minute concessions with pro-EU rebels inside her Conservative Party.

As part of the deal, May promised to make changes to the EU withdrawal bill to give parliament more powers in the Brexit process. Specifically, if there is no agreement on Brexit between the UK and EU by November 30, MPs will have the chance to vote on a motion stipulating what should happen next.

Attempts to keep the UK in the European Economic Area after Brexit have been defeated in the House of Commons, amid a major Labour revolt over the issue.

A Lords amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill, committing the UK to retain EEA membership after it leaves next year, was reversed by 327 votes to 126.

Jeremy Corbyn urged his MPs to abstain but 75 voted for and 15 against.

Shadow minster Laura Smith and four junior aides quit their jobs in order to defy the party whip over the issue.

Earlier, Labour failed in an attempt to amend the EU Withdrawal Bill with their own alternative motion to guarantee "full access" to European markets after Brexit but outside the EEA.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday it was important to ensure that parliament could not block Brexit, defending her approach to passing the legislation that will end Britain’s membership of the European Union.

“We need to recognize the role of parliament, but ensure that the government’s hands can’t be tied in negotiations and that parliament does not overturn the will of the people,” May told the BBC.

For two years now, an increasingly astonished audience is watching this British rodeo ride. Theresa May has been on the Brexite bull for much longer than many expected.

At the end of a rodeo, however, the bull always wins.