Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

Michael Gove has confirmed that a vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal is going ahead tomorrow amid speculation the prime minister was preparing to delay the crucial showdown. And Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt warned fellow lawmakers that there were "real risks" if they voted against the PM's deal with the EU.

According to several sources - but confirmed! - tomorrows vote has been pulled. (May holds an emergency conference call with cabinet ministers momentarily.)

PM May is said to make a statement to MPs in Parliament this afternoon.

May has called off the Commons vote on her Brexit deal after huge opposition from her own MPs made a devastating defeat all but inevitable. Attention already turning to how long Theresa May will delay the vote for. And the Pound hits 18-month low amid these Brexit confusions.

The European commission has said that it will not renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. At a press briefing the commission’s spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said:

We take note of the court of justice judgment today on the irrevocability of article 50.

We have an agreement on the table which was endorsed by the European council in its article 50 format on the 25th November.

As President Juncker said, this deal is the best and only deal possible. We will not renegotiate - our position has therefore not changed and as far as we are concerned the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union on the 29th March 2019.

The Speaker’s office confirmed May would give an oral statement to the House of Commons on the European Union at 3.30pm.
It will be immediately followed by a business statement from the leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, implying that she will confirm the procedural details of the postponement, and a statement by the Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay.

Brexit: UK can revoke Article 50, European court rules
Revocation exists as long as withdrawal agreement has not come into force - CJEU, Patrick Smyth in Brussels

The European Union’s top court has found that the EU treaties do allow the UK unilaterally to change its mind and to withdraw its Article 50 application to leave the European Union.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union delivered an unusually “expedited” decision on a question forwarded by a Scottish court at the request of a number of MSPs, MPs and MEPs. They sought to challenge the idea that the Article 50 application by the UK was irrevocable unless supported by all the remaining member states.

In Monday’s judgment, the full court has ruled that when a member state has notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union, that member state is free to revoke unilaterally that notification.

That possibility exists for as long as a withdrawal agreement concluded between the EU and that member state has not entered into force or, if no such agreement has been concluded, for as long as the two-year period from the date of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, and any possible extension, has not expired.

To subject the right to revoke to an application to leave to the unanimous approval of the European Council would transform a unilateral sovereign right into a conditional right and would be incompatible with the principle that a member state cannot be forced to leave the EU against its will, the court ruled.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has put out this statement about today’s developments at Westminster:

"Assuming these reports are accurate, this is a watershed moment and an act of pathetic cowardice by a Tory government which has run out of road and is now collapsing into utter chaos. It is final proof that the interests of a deeply-divided Tory party matter far more to the prime minister than people’s jobs and living standards. That is an unforgivable dereliction of responsibility, and the UK government should now get out of the way and allow others to take charge.

It appears the vote is being delayed because of the Tory party civil war, and in a desperate attempt to save the prime minister’s job. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain but yet again our views are being ignored, as they have been throughout this disastrous and incompetent Brexit process.

The prime minister’s deal should come before the House of Commons immediately so that it can be voted down and we can replace Tory chaos with a solution that will protect jobs, living standards and Scotland’s place in Europe."

Steve Baker is the former Brexit minister and deputy chair of the European Research Group, which represents the 50-odd Tory MPs pushing for a harder Brexit

To complicate the mess [yes, it's possible!]:
if the government wants to cancel tomorrow’s vote, the normal way to do this would be by tabling a new business motion. But this would require a vote, and several Conservative Brexiters are now saying they would vote against a move to pull the vote.

Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s leader at Westminster, has put out this statement about the decision to pull the vote.

"This vote has been pulled because it would have been overwhelmingly defeated.

Deferring the vote is only of any use if the government is prepared to go to Brussels and insist on necessary changes to the withdrawal agreement.

Few people accepted this was the best deal available and the prime minister’s actions today prove that."

Opinion in the Guardian by Jonathan Freedland:
The country will pay the price for May’s Brexit vote delay

I totally agree with Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s lead Brexit spokesman

I guess that May will respond to the overwhelming message from Tory MPs by seeking emergency talks in Brussels with the European commission and council leaders before the two-day regular summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
But I'm convinced that any substantive reopening of the withdrawal agreement wont happen. EU leaders will not be pleased with new demands from May, especially as she only signed off on the deal a few weeks ago.

But in a few minutes we'll hear May and ... the traditional booming explosions of outraged parliamentarians.


(Screenshot Parliament tv)

May says she will hold emergency talks with EU leaders to discuss possible changes to backstop. And the government will step up its no-deal planning in case MPs cannot agree on her Brexit deal.

And at the end of her speech, May said, even though she voted remain, she knew when she became PM that she had to deliver Brexit. But she wants to do it in a way that protects jobs and security.

The Sterling has suffered a sharp selloff since Theresa May began giving her statement, down two cents from this morning.

Charles Grant is the director of the Centre for European Reform, one of the best-informed "Brussels-watchers".