Theresa May to Resign if MPs Back Her Deal

The prime minister says that she will resign if MPs back her deal on Brexit. Get the full analysis at Polerium.

Theresa May to Resign if MPs Back Her Deal


Today, Theresa May told MPs that if they back her deal, she'll quit before the next phase of the Brexit negotiations, which occur with Europe after we've left the EU.

Twice now, the prime minister has tried to get Parliament to back her negotiated withdrawal deal - the only one the EU are saying they'll agree to - and twice she's failed to get enough votes.

In a bid then to unite her own party and win back those Conservative MPs who have voted against the deal before, she's said she will resign if her plan is passed.

Whilst - for all the wrong reasons, in terms of what's best for Britain - the Tories are welcoming this call for resignation, I don't think it will work to pass her deal. It is very unpopular. However, never underestimate the careerism of politicians, and their desire to move up the ladder and to fill their pockets, above all else.

There already apparently have been a few dozen MPs who have switched sides to now back May's deal, in return for her quitting.

If the PM's gambit works, sources say that she could trigger a leadership election as early as May 22nd, and then have a new PM installed by July.

Important to note though - it wouldn't be a general election. Since she's resigning, she's vacating her spot as head of the Conservative Party, so it will actually be an internal vote by Conservative Party MPs that choose their new party head, and the head of the largest party (or chief party inside a ruling coalition, as is approximately the current case) is automatically the prime minister.  

Rumours have it that a Brexiteer will fill her place - for example the vile,  disastorous, and shameless careerist-in-chief Boris Johnson, who was the main architecht of Brexit. That's bad news. The slimey Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, and Jeremy Hunt are also thought to be potential frontrunners. But it'll be a wide field with potentially many wanting a shot.

The prime minister told MPs: “I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I  know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the  second phase of the Brexit negotiations, and I won’t stand in the way of  that.

“I know some people are worried that if you vote for the withdrawal  agreement, I will take that as a mandate to rush on into phase two  without the debate we need to have. I won’t; I hear what you are saying.  But we need to get the deal through and deliver Brexit.

“I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.”

If a Brexiteer wins, that's bad news - it will validate and further encourage the sheer and extremely damaging careerism of people like Borish Johnson that got us into this mess in the first place, and it will embolden the far right. It will put Brexit and the future of the country into the hands of people want the harsher, more corporatist, least rational solutions to the crisis. All of that is dangerous for our country.

Labour really needs to get the hell in gear, and back the only viable solution to Brexit - a second referendum.


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