After a marathon seven-hour Cabinet meeting, UK PM Theresa May is set to deliver a statement on the future of Brexit.
As The Guardian’s Jennifer Ranking earlier explained:
So no deal is off the table?
Not yet. No deal is the legal default, so cannot be ruled out.
While the EU would probably grant an extension, officials in Brussels are not certain the prime minister will ask for one. EU leaders will not force the UK into a long extension if it does not seek one or refuses to meet the terms, say people close to the process. Some fear May would placate her party over taking part in European elections.
“If the prime minister said she wanted a no deal, we wouldn’t be able to stop her jumping off the cliff,” the EU diplomat said.
Cable started to rise ahead of the statement as some suggested she would soften her stance to a no-deal Brexit.
“Hearing rather cryptically that the PM’s statement will represent a softening of her red lines – but not on free movement,” Steven Swinford of The Telegraph said on Twitter.
“Make of that what you will, we’ll know soon enough.”
Watch live feed here…
May’s speech comes as Emmanuel Macron said the EU “will not be hostage to a political crisis in the UK” as he warned MPs against assuming a long extension to Article 50 is possible.
The French president said the EU agreeing to a lengthy Brexit delay long beyond April 12 should “not (be taken) for granted”.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2CSxqLa Tyler Durden