LONDON - Boris Johnson overwhelmingly won the first round of voting Thursday in the race to replace outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, with the field of candidates narrowed to seven from 10.
The Brexit-backing former foreign minister picked up 114 of the 313 votes cast in a secret ballot of Conservative Party lawmakers in the lower House of Commons.
Mark Harper, Esther McVey, and Andrea Leadsom, who came in second to May in the last leadership race in 2016, failed to collect the required 17 votes and were knocked out.
"Obviously we're happy with the results but there's still a long way to go to winning the contest," a spokesman for Johnson told reporters.
"You have to hold the numbers to go through to the next round," the spokesman said. "That's a challenge."
The outcome, if repeated in subsequent rounds which will further whittle down the field starting next Tuesday, is above the 105 votes Johnson would need to make the final two.
The last pair standing will go up before 160,000 voting Conservative Party members across the country.
The winner will become new party leader and automatically replace May as premier, most likely at the end of July.
Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt was a distant second with 43 votes.
Environment Minister Michael Gove was third with 37 votes, former Brexit minister Dominic Raab picked up 27, Home Secretary Sajid Javid won 23 votes, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock had 20.
International Development Secretary Rory Stewart snuck through in seventh place with 19 votes after running an original social media campaign that endeared him to more liberal party members -- and the British public at large.
"This is now neck-and-neck going into the next round," Stewart told reporters after watching the results announcement.
"I feel really inspired and encouraged."
Hunt and Gove are widely seen as going head-to-head for votes from the more moderate wing of the party which favors a softer line on Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
Raab, like Johnson, has warned that he was ready to take Britain out of the EU without an agreement when the new Brexit deadline arrives in October, if the EU does not offer better terms.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON -- Britain's two main parties set the stage on Monday for a battle over a no-deal Brexit, hoping to win back voters who abandoned them for a new movement led by euroskeptic Nigel Farage and other smaller parties in European elections.
After a punishing night when acrimonious divisions over Britain's departure from the European Union were plain to see, contenders for the leadership of the governing Conservatives said the results were a demand to deliver Brexit no matter what.
Taking a different tack, the opposition Labour Party said a public vote - a new national election or second referendum - was the way to reunite the country. It pledged to make sure any new euroskeptic Conservative leader would not take Britain out of the EU without a transition deal to help protect the economy.
But with Farage's Brexit Party, which prefers a no-deal Brexit, capturing the greatest number of votes for seats in the European Parliament, closely shadowed by a group of fervently pro-EU parties, Conservatives and Labour were under pressure to commit clearly to either side of the debate.
Almost 3 years since Britain voted narrowly to leave the EU and barely two months after the originally planned departure date, lawmakers remain at loggerheads over how, when or even whether the country will quit the club it joined in 1973.
For the Conservatives, who will name a new leader by the end of July, many of the would-be successors see the European vote outcome as proof they must seek a cleaner break with the EU, with several saying they would leave without a deal - a move some senior pro-EU Conservatives regard as foolhardy.
For Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, pressure will mount to embrace a second referendum without qualification - something he has said would be needed to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
But what is clear from a vote which many used as a protest is that Brexit - which forced Prime Minister Theresa May to say she will resign on June 7 after failing to deliver Britain's departure - risks shattering the election prospects of both the main parties.
Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favorite to replace May as party leader and prime minister, said the election message was "if we go on like this, we will be fired".
"We can and must deliver. No one sensible would aim exclusively for a no-deal outcome. No one responsible would take no-deal off the table," Johnson, who was also London mayor, said in his regular column in the Telegraph newspaper.
"If we are courageous and optimistic, we can strike a good bargain with our friends across the Channel, come out well and on time - by October 31."
Interior minister Sajid Javid became the ninth Conservative to declare he would run for the leadership, saying on Monday "first and foremost, we must deliver Brexit".
NO DEAL
Javid was one of several prime ministerial contenders to express their belief that the disappointing result in the European vote, which put the Conservatives in fifth position, amounted to a clear demand for Britain to get on with Brexit. May said the results showed the importance of a negotiated deal.
The question posed for the Labour Party was a little different. With part of its support bolting to the Brexit Party and part to the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, who support a second Brexit referendum, some felt the pressure to change tack.
Labour's finance chief, John McDonnell, caused a short-lived sensation in seeming to signal a shift in Labour policy to unequivocally backing a second referendum - something favored by many party members but fought off by the party leadership.
But Corbyn sought to set the record straight, again saying Labour would do its utmost to stop a no-deal Brexit - something experts say might be legally trickier than many lawmakers earlier thought if faced with a euroskeptic prime minister determined to leave the EU by the current deadline of Oct. 31.
"This issue will have to go back to the people, whether through a general election or a public vote," Corbyn said in a statement.
After May announced on Friday that she was stepping down, many of her would-be successors have said they wanted Brexit with or without a deal, rejecting another public vote.
That response seemed to be a direct challenge to Farage, a former commodities broker whose campaigning helped force May's predecessor, David Cameron, to stage the 2016 EU referendum.
After the Brexit Party came out on top in Sunday's European vote with 31.6 percent of the vote, the 55-year-old Farage said on Monday he wanted to be included in any new negotiation to leave the EU.
But while the Brexit Party came first, with Farage's former UKIP adding 3.3 percent of the vote, three staunchly pro-EU parties - the Liberal Democrats, Greens and Change UK - combined for 35.8 percent.
"Far from providing a clear verdict, the result simply underlined how difficult it is likely to be to find any outcome to the Brexit process that satisfies a clear majority of voters," said John Curtice, a leading polling expert.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON — Only one person, the joke doing the rounds in Parliament goes, can stop the disheveled, blond-haired, crowd-pleasing former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, from becoming the country’s next prime minister.
That is Johnson himself.
One of Britain’s most recognizable, and now most divisive politicians, Johnson has a history of verbal gaffes, a poor record as a minister and many enemies in Parliament, not to mention among the voters who reject Brexit, which he helped persuade Britons to embrace in a 2016 referendum.
But his charisma, flair for publicity and record of winning two elections as mayor of London make him the runaway favorite in a crowded field to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, according to bookmakers.
A victory for Johnson would have significant repercussions and could increase the prospects of Britain hurtling out of the European Union without an agreement at the end of October, despite the potentially dire economic consequences.
It also sets up a possible constitutional showdown with Parliament, which has shown that the one thing it can agree on is that there should never be a no-deal Brexit. If Britain’s new prime minister — whoever it is — was willing to exit the bloc without a deal, it is unclear if Parliament would have the power to stop the move, according to constitutional scholars.
“A new leader will have the opportunity to do things differently and have the momentum of a new administration,” Johnson said on Friday, according to Reuters, illustrating why Britain could be headed into turbulent waters. “We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal.”
Not only is Johnson a firm proponent of Brexit — albeit one who is instinctively more flexible than May — but several EU leaders have hinted they regard the idea of dealing with him as a nightmare come true. They likely will be loath to make him any concessions.
2019 New York Times News Service
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LONDON - Sterling fell broadly on Wednesday and was on track for its longest ever losing streak against the euro as Prime Minister Theresa May's last-ditch Brexit plan failed to win over either opposition lawmakers or many in her own party.
With the plan appearing dead in the water, some traders said they saw a rising chance of Britain leaving the European Union without a transition deal.
The pound fell 0.3 percent to $1.2663, its lowest since mid-January, and weakened a similar amount against the euro to 88.135 pence. The sterling is set for its 13th straight day of falls against the euro, measured by London trading prices, the longest such run since the euro began trading in 1999, according to Refinitiv data.
"The action from Labour and eurosceptic Tory members was quite negative and an updated deal passing parliament looks quite distant now," said Nomura FX strategist Yujiro Goto.
"It may depend on the result of the EU parliamentary election over the weekend, but this could mean May resigns over the weekend. It was generally expected by the market, but it became clearer yesterday."
The EU parliamentary election is due to run from Thursday to Sunday, and opinion polls suggest Nigel Farage's Brexit Party will poll strongly.
In mid-March, banks informally canvassed by Reuters saw a diminishing chance of a "no-deal" Brexit.
This week though there were signs some were changing their mind, with JPMorgan upping its probability of a no-deal Brexit to 25 percent from 15 percent. Another bank, Nordea, raised the chance of no-deal Brexit to 15 percent, compared to 10 percent in March while Mizuho strategists now see no-deal chances rising towards 50 percent.
"Personally, I suggest chances of no-deal (Brexit) is nearer 50 percent given the way things are shaping up right now. Looking for lower sterling-dollar trend to continue into the EU election and beyond," said Neil Jones, head of hedge fund currency sales at Mizuho.
Others stuck to previous forecasts ranging around 15-20 percent. JPM also said it was expecting a national election and Brexit delayed to year-end.
Broader market positioning on the pound suggested more volatility in store for the British currency. Outstanding net short positions on the pound were whittled back sharply in recent weeks when hopes grew that May could secure a deal.
With positioning broadly neutral, sterling has become more vulnerable to headline-driven selloffs.
WHAT INFLATION?
Data on Wednesday showed British inflation rose last month by less than investors and the Bank of England had expected. But it still hit its highest level this year, pushed up by higher energy bills.
Yet, with politics dominating currency trading so heavily, there was barely any reaction from sterling.
Money markets now do not expect a BOE rate rise this year and are starting to price out 2020 hikes as well.
Ten-year British government bond yields slipped 3.6 basis points and their yield premium over German debt tightened to its narrowest in six weeks, implying greater demand from British investors for government bonds.
"Brexit, rather than inflation, is at the moment the key driver of interest rates. And with the uncertainties on this front growing rather than falling and no early resolution in sight, rates look set to remain firmly on hold for the time being," said Rupert Thompson, head of research at Kingswood.
(Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee and Abhinav Ramnarayan; Editing by Tommy Wilkes, Andrew Heavens and Alexandra Hudson)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - Prime Minister Theresa May set out on Tuesday a "new deal" for Britain's departure from the European Union, offering sweeteners to opposition parties in her fourth attempt to break an impasse in parliament over Brexit.
Three years since Britain voted to leave the EU and almost two months after the planned departure date, May is mounting a last bid to try to get the deeply divided parliament's backing for a divorce deal and leave office with some kind of legacy.
The odds do not look good. Despite offering what she described as "significant further changes", many lawmakers, hardened in their positions, have already decided not to vote next month for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, legislation which implements the terms of Britain's departure.
Speaking at the headquarters of PricewaterhouseCoopers, May appealed to lawmakers to get behind her deal, offering the prospect of a possible second referendum on the agreement and closer trading arrangements with the EU as incentives.
"I say with conviction to every MP or every party: I have compromised, now I ask you to compromise," she said.
"We have been given a clear instruction by the people we are supposed to represent, so help me find a way to honour that instruction, move our country and our politics and build the better future that all of us want to see."
By offering the possibility of holding a second vote on her deal and a compromise on customs arrangements, May hopes to win over opposition Labour lawmakers, whose votes she needs to overcome resistance in her own Conservative Party.
But she has infuriated Brexit-supporting lawmakers, who have described a customs union with the EU as no Brexit at all.
Simon Clarke, a Conservative lawmaker, said on Twitter he had backed her deal during its third failed attempt in parliament, "but this speech from the PM means there is no way I will support the Withdrawal Agreement Bill".
"So if we pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill at 2nd reading, we allow a Remain Parliament to insist upon a 2nd referendum and a Customs Union? This is outrageous," he said.
CONCESSIONS
May's movement towards what many describe as the "Remain" lawmakers, who want to stay in the EU, is a shift for a prime minister who has long said she is against a second referendum and staying in a customs union with the bloc.
She may be counting on the fact that parliament has yet to vote in favour of a second referendum and that a "temporary" customs union might just be weak enough for some in her party to accept.
But it signals how her earlier strategy, to keep Brexit supporters on board, has failed and the last-ditch attempt to get Labour on board, some lawmakers say, is simply too little, too late.
Earlier, John McDonnell, Labour's finance policy chief, cast doubt on whether it could win the party's support, saying what he had seen so far "doesn't inspire confidence, and I don't think that many of our members will be inspired by it".
Brexit-supporting Conservatives were equally unconvinced.
David Jones, a former minister, described the speech as "unacceptable" and predicted that the move just before Thursday's elections to the European Parliament would only buoy support for veteran eurosceptic Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.
"I believe more Conservatives will vote against it," he told Reuters. "Regrettably, it will probably also boost the Brexit Party vote on Thursday."
May wants to get her withdrawal deal, agreed with the EU last November, through parliament so she can leave office, as promised, having at least finalised the first part of Britain's departure and prevented a "no deal" Brexit, an abrupt departure that many businesses fear will create an economic shock.
Finance minister, Philip Hammond, rammed the point home in parliament on Tuesday when he said a no-deal Brexit would leave Britain poorer. He is expected to send the same message to business leaders in a speech later in the day.
"The 2016 Leave campaign was clear that we would leave with a deal," he will say, according to advance extracts.
"So to advocate for 'no deal' is to hijack the result of the referendum, and in doing so, knowingly to inflict damage on our economy and our living standards. Because all the preparation in the world will not avoid the consequences of no deal."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON -- Britain's tumultuous divorce from the European Union was again in disarray on Friday as last-ditch cross-party talks teetered on the brink of failure in the twilight of Prime Minister Theresa May's premiership.
Nearly three years after the United Kingdom unexpectedly voted in a referendum to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, when or if it will ever indeed quit the European club it joined in 1973.
Brexit talks between May's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party are about to close without an agreement, the BBC said, hours after May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June.
"If the talks are not going anywhere, from my point of view that leads to only one conclusion," Hilary Benn, the chairman of parliament's Brexit committee, told BBC radio.
"There are only two ways out of the Brexit crisis that we've got: either parliament agrees a deal or we go back to the British people and ask them to make the choice."
After the Brexit deal that May struck with Brussels was defeated a third time by parliament, she announced on April 2 that she would open talks with Labour. But the two parties have failed to agree on major issues such as the opposition party's demand for a post-Brexit customs union.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran socialist who voted against membership of the EU in 1975, has said that May refused to budge on key demands.
May's hands have been tied, knowing that to make concessions to Labour would lead to fury in her divided party. Labour has feared that any compromises on issues such as workers' rights would be torn up by May's successor.
The two party leaders will now move to a second phase, aimed at agreeing on a process for parliamentary votes designed to find a consensus, the BBC said.
MAY ENDS IN JUNE
May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June, after a fourth and final attempt to push her Brexit deal through parliament.
May has promised to step down after it is approved by lawmakers. But many in her party want her to quit if the deal is rejected again and others are demanding her immediate departure.
Boris Johnson, the face of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, said he would be standing as a candidate to replace May as Conservative leader.
"Tories must go with Boris Johnson if they want to survive or they’ll end up as dead as a dodo," Sun columnist Trevor Kavanagh said. "Even sopping wet Remainers can see the writing on the wall and want Theresa May out as fast as possible."
The winner of a leadership contest will automatically become prime minister and will take control of the Brexit process, which has plunged Britain into its worst political crisis since World War Two.
Johnson has been one of May's most outspoken critics over Brexit and supports leaving the EU without a deal. But the current parliament has repeatedly said it doesn't want a no-deal Brexit.
A YouGov poll for the Times ahead of European elections on May 23 showed that the far smaller Liberal Democrats opposition have overtaken Labour while the Conservatives have been pushed into fifth place, with the newly-formed Brexit Party in first.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON -- Britain's 2 biggest parties said there was renewed impetus Saturday to find a compromise on Brexit after taking a battering in local elections from voters exasperated by the impasse.
Prime Minister Theresa May's governing center-right Conservatives had a disastrous result, losing more than a thousand seats in the English local authority polls.
But the left-wing Labour main opposition led by Jeremy Corbyn failed to capitalize, and even managed to lose seats.
Instead, 2 pro-EU parties profited: the centrist, Liberal Democrats were up 676 and the left-wing Greens added 185. Independents meanwhile gained 242.
Yet, in a sign of the frustration among pro-Brexit supporters, many voters boasted on social media of how they spoiled their ballots, writing "Brexit betrayal" and "traitors" on their voting slips.
The Conservatives and Labour are in prolonged talks on finding a compromise to break the Brexit deadlock after MPs failed to agree on a divorce deal with the European Union.
"We can look at those local election results as a punishment for both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party for failing to find a way through," Justice Secretary David Gauke told BBC television.
Corbyn told ITV there was clearly a "huge impetus... that an arrangement has to be made, a deal has to be done; parliament has to resolve this issue".
With the divorce deal hanging in the balance, Britain's exit date from the EU has been pushed back twice from the original March 29 to October 31.
Britain's voted in June 2016 in favor of leaving the bloc.
SHADOW OVER EU POLL
In the local elections, the Conservatives were expected to lose seats, with sitting governments traditionally taking a mid-term hit.
Meanwhile Labour could have expected to make the sort of sweeping gains opposition parties on course for government typically pocket.
However, the results were far worse for both major parties than they might have projected.
With more than 8,000 council seats up for grabs in England, the Conservatives were net down 1,269 -- the worst local elections performance, in raw numbers, by a governing party since 1995 -- while Labour shed 63.
This year's local elections took place in largely rural and suburban England, where generally the Liberal Democrats provide the main alternative to the Conservatives in the south and to Labour in the north.
Without a resolution to Brexit, the scenario could be worse for the big parties at the European Parliament elections. They are scheduled to take place in Britain on May 23 following the last extension to the Brexit deadline granted by the EU.
The Conservative and Labour will face euroskeptic Nigel Farage's Brexit Party -- which leads in the opinion polls -- and pro-EU centrists Change UK.
Neither newly-formed party stood in the local elections, the polls coming too soon to find the thousands of candidates necessary.
The prime minister interpreted the election outcome to be a simple message to the Conservatives and Labour to "just get on and deliver Brexit".
"Because we haven't delivered the Brexit deal through parliament yet, this was going to be a particularly challenging set of elections for both of the main parties," May said during a speech in Grimsby, eastern England, late Friday.
'TREATED LIKE FOOLS'
In their first chance to dissect the results, newspapers also weighed in.
The front page of the strongly pro-Brexit publication the Daily Express read: "Got the message? Deliver Brexit!"
The similarly pro-Brexit Daily Mail printed an editorial calling the polls "an immense howl of anger, exasperation and derision at a pathetic political elite failing abysmally in its key task".
It said the public were "sick to death of being treated like fools".
The Sun said of May: "The party she has devoted her life to is demoralized, exhausted and staring into the abyss."
The Times's front page said May will be told by senior Conservatives that next week she must set a date for her own departure.
May has said she will step aside once a Brexit deal has been passed by parliament.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May has reportedly approved a limited role for China's Huawei to help build a 5G network in the UK, shrugging off security warnings from senior ministers and Washington surrounding the telecoms giant, media said Wednesday.
Britain's National Security Council, which is chaired by May, agreed Tuesday to allow the Chinese technology giant limited access to build "non-core" infrastructure such as antennas, The Daily Telegraph newspaper wrote.
The Financial Times, citing those close to the meeting, added that the Chinese company had been banned from more sensitive "core" parts of the project.
The Times newspaper meanwhile was more cautious, stating that May was "considering giving limited approval".
Her reported moves come despite concerns raised by Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt.
May's Downing Street office declined to comment on the story.
However, Digital Minister Margot James dismissed the media speculation.
"In spite of cabinet leaks to the contrary, final decision yet to be made on managing threats to telecoms infrastructure," she tweeted.
She later told Sky News that while a final decision had not been made, James indicated that a security review had concluded.
"The decision has not been finally made yet and the Prime Minister will take advice form all of the relevant agencies and departments," James added.
Huawei itself welcomed the report.
"Huawei welcomes reports that the UK government is moving towards allowing Huawei to help build the UK's 5G network," it said in a brief statement.
"This green light means that UK businesses and consumers will have access to the fastest and most reliable networks thanks to Huawei's cutting edge technology.
"While we await a formal government announcement, we are pleased that the UK is continuing to take an evidence-based approach to its work and we will continue work cooperatively with the government, and the industry," the Chinese company added.
Britain's move would be at odds with the United States, which has banned Huawei's 5G technology from its territory and urged allies in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence sharing collective -- comprising also Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand -- to follow suit.
Huawei is the leading manufacturer of equipment for next-generation 5G mobile networks with almost instantaneous data transfer that will become the nervous system of Europe's economy, in strategic sectors like energy, transport, banking and health care.
SPYING FEARS
The technology titan faces pushback in some Western markets over fears Beijing could spy on communications and gain access to critical infrastructure.
Last month, Britain identified "significant technological issues" in Huawei's engineering processes that pose "new risks" for the nation's telecommunications, according to a government report.
"Further significant technical issues have been identified in Huawei's engineering processes, leading to new risks in the UK telecommunications networks," read annual findings from the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre oversight board.
The board -- which includes officials from Britain's GCHQ cybersecurity agency as well as a senior Huawei executive and representatives from the UK telecommunications sector -- added it could provide only limited assurance that risks posed by the Chinese tech giant to UK national security would be "sufficiently mitigated long-term".
Shrugging off the widespread concerns, Egypt on Sunday said Huawei would roll out a 5G phone network there for the first time during the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations football tournament.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON--Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday defended her decision to turn to Britain's main opposition to get her EU divorce deal approved, warning without cross-party consensus Brexit could "slip through our fingers".
The beleaguered leader opened talks this week with the Labour Party in a bid to break months of stubborn opposition in parliament to the withdrawal agreement she struck with European leaders last year.
MPs have rejected three times her deal finalized with the bloc last November to end 46 years of membership.
May's overtures to Labour came ahead of an EU summit on Wednesday where she must secure another Brexit extension, until June 30, to prevent Britain crashing out the bloc at the end of next week with no accord.
The country's original March 29 departure date was delayed to April 12 last month.
"We must deliver Brexit and to do so we must agree a deal," May said in a statement released by Downing Street, adding the two main parties agreed on major aspects of Brexit.
"That is the basis for a compromise that can win a majority in parliament and winning that majority is the only way to deliver Brexit.
"The longer this takes, the greater the risk of the UK never leaving at all. It would mean letting the Brexit the British people voted for slip through our fingers."
However after several days of negotiations with Labour, its leader Jeremy Corbyn complained he had not "noticed any great change in the government's position so far".
"I'm waiting to see the red lines move," he added.
Meanwhile EU members, who must give unanimous backing to any further Brexit delay, are growing increasingly impatient at the dysfunction in Westminster.
They could offer just a shorter postponement -- or a longer period of up to a year.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters at a G7 meeting in France on Saturday that it was time for the Brexit crisis to end.
"The British authorities and the British parliament need to understand that (the EU) is not going to be able to constantly exhaust itself with the ups and downs of domestic British politics," he said.
However Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar cautioned it was "extremely unlikely" a member would veto another extension, while revealing he now favored a lengthy delay.
'RESTORE NATIONAL IDENTITY'
Despite the continued uncertainty over Brexit, it emerged on Saturday that the British government has begun issuing passports with the words "European Union" removed from the front cover.
The interior ministry said a longstanding decision to start introducing the travel documents without reference to the bloc had gone ahead from March 30.
But it confirmed that some newly issued passports will still bear the bloc's name due to an attempt to save public money by using up "leftover stock".
British passports had already become ensnared in the country's Brexit divisions.
The government in 2017 announced that it would return to traditional blue passports "to restore national identity", pleasing Brexiteers but drawing scorn from Remainers.
The travel documents had dark blue covers from 1921, but Britain switched to burgundy from 1988, in common with other members of the-then European Community.
The new production contract is to begin in October 2019, with passports currently being issued in the burgundy colour.
'LISTEN TO SUGGESTIONS'
Whether Britain will have left the bloc by then is uncertain.
Even those of May's Conservative colleagues who back her deal have denounced any outreach to Labour, while the most hardline Brexiteers remain implacably opposed to her deal.
Reports in Britain's Sunday newspapers said Tory MPs would try to oust May if Britain had to contest European Parliament elections in late May as part of a lengthy Brexit delay.
But Finance Minister Philip Hammond, who backed Remain in Britain's 2016 referendum and is seen as favoring as soft a Brexit as possible, urged his divided party to show flexibility.
"We should be open to listen to suggestions that others have made and some people in the Labour Party are making other suggestions," he said.
Labour is pushing for a much closer post-Brexit alliance with the EU, including participation in a customs union.
May has previously dismissed the idea because it bars Britain from striking its own trade deals with global giants such as China and the United States.
But the opposition party is also facing internal division on the issue.
Eighty Labour MPs wrote to Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday urging him to secure a guarantee of a second referendum in any Brexit deal he reaches with May.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON -- Britain is due to leave the European Union on April 12 unless Prime Minister Theresa May can break the deadlock in parliament or asks Brussels for more time, raising the prospect of an abrupt, no-deal Brexit for the world's fifth-biggest economy.
EU officials said on Tuesday that a no-deal Brexit was becoming more likely and the European Central Bank said financial markets needed to price in the growing risk.
Here is an outline of the potential economic impact for Britain of leaving the EU without the cushion of a transition.
UK ECONOMY
The Bank of England estimates a worst-case Brexit -- involving border delays and markets losing confidence in Britain -- could shock the economy into a 5 percent contraction within a year, nearly as much as during the global financial crisis.
Output in a less severe but still disruptive no-deal Brexit -- in which Britain and the EU avoid snarl-ups at the borders, for example -- would fall by around 3 percent.
Over the longer term, Britain's finance ministry has said the economy could be 8 percent smaller by 2035 after a no-deal Brexit than if Britain stayed in the EU. The hit would be bigger if migration slowed sharply, the ministry has said.
The BoE also sees a risk in Britain's wide current account deficit. Governor Mark Carney has said the deficit leaves Britain reliant on "the kindness of strangers" and a no-deal Brexit could turn foreign investors off British assets.
Brexit supporters have dismissed the warnings as scare-mongering but say economy is likely to suffer a short-term hit. Former BoE Governor Mervyn King has said the long-term costs of Brexit might not be very different from staying in the bloc.
TRADE
Barriers to trade would be raised for British companies as the EU imposes import tariffs which average 5 percent but are higher for some exports such as cars. Britain's automotive industry employs more than 800,000 people.
Britain would also lose the benefits of the EU's trade deals with countries around the world.
For its part, Britain plans to eliminate import tariffs for many products for up to a year in the event of a no-deal Brexit. That would help reduce the inflationary hit to consumers but would expose many British companies to tougher competition.
Manufacturers are also worried about border delays which would hurt their just-in-time production.
Brexit supporters say those fears are overblown because technology would ease any border delays and exports would flow freely once Britain gets a future EU free trade deal.
Deals with faster-growing nations such as the United States, India and China would be a big boost for Britain, Brexit supporters say. But Britain's official budget forecasters say the benefits of such trade deals are likely to be small.
PORTS AND STOCKPILING
The government has identified stretches of motorway to use as truck parks, and plans to use a small airport in southern England to cope with any tail-backs at ports on the English Channel.
Academics at Imperial College say two extra minutes spent checking each vehicle at Dover and Folkestone could lead to traffic queues of 29 miles (47 km) on nearby highways.
Many manufacturers are stockpiling parts to keep working. A measure of inventory-building hit the highest ever measured for a Group of Seven economy in March. Britain has asked drugmakers to stockpile medicines for six weeks above normal operations.
Brexit supporters point to comments by the head of the port in Calais, in France, who said trucks would continue to move through without delays in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
France has said it plans to hire hundreds of additional customs officers and create extra border control facilities.
HELP FROM THE BUDGET AND THE BANK OF ENGLAND?
Finance minister Philip Hammond has built up a fiscal war-chest to spend more in case of a Brexit shock to the economy.
But he has also warned that, longer term, a no-deal Brexit would mean a rethink of his promise to end austerity because the economy would grow more slowly, hurting tax revenues.
Brexit supporters say leaving the EU with no deal would help the public finances because it would mean an immediate end to payments by London into the EU budget.
The BoE has warned investors not to assume that it would rush to cut borrowing costs after a no-deal shock. A fall in the value of the pound would push up inflation, something that would argue against a rate cut.
But some officials, including Carney, have said their most likely response would be to help the economy.
POUND
Given the likely economic hit, a no-deal Brexit would probably push the pound down, adding to its losses against the US dollar of about 13 percent since the 2016 referendum.
Under the BoE's worst-case Brexit scenario, sterling would slump 25 percent to about the same value as the US dollar.
FTSE
A weaker pound could push up the share prices of many of Britain's biggest companies which do business around the world such as British American Tobacco and GSK. The companies in the FTSE 100 make 70 percent of their income overseas.
But there could be punishment for the more domestically focused FTSE 250 companies who make half their money at home.
BONDS
The economic shock of a no-deal Brexit would usually spur investors to seek the safe haven of British government bonds.
However, investors are bracing for the possibility of a snap election. The Labour Party has plans for more public spending, potentially including the renationalization of some utilities and rail operators, which might unsettle investors.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON -- The British cabinet was to gather on Tuesday seeking a way to leave the EU with a deal in 10 days' time, with torn MPs rejecting every possible path to Brexit.
Prime Minister Theresa May was to call in her cabinet to discuss the next steps after lawmakers failed to find a majority on any alternative to the divorce deal she struck with Brussels -- an agreement they have also rejected three times already.
Brussels has set Britain an April 12 deadline to agree to the divorce deal, settle on an alternative or crash out of the European Union.
Backbenchers in parliament's lower House of Commons seized the initiative by holding a round of votes last week on eight alternative Brexit options, but failed to agree on any of them.
It refined them down into four choices on Monday but once again a majority voted no to them all, even with the cabinet abstaining.
The result was close for proposals to negotiate a permanent customs union with the EU.
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay hinted the government could now bring its deal back for a fourth vote this week and avoid a longer delay to Brexit that would mean holding European Parliament elections in May.
"To secure any further extension, the government will have to put forward a credible proposition to the EU," he said.
"The only option is to find a way through which allows the UK to leave with a deal.
"The best course of action is to do so as soon as possible."
He said the cabinet would meet on Tuesday to consider the results of Monday's votes "and how we should proceed."
'FACE THE ABYSS'
Following Monday's votes, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, said: "A hard Brexit becomes nearly inevitable."
When MPs meet again on Wednesday "the UK has a last chance to break the deadlock or face the abyss," he said.
The EU has called an emergency summit for April 10 and warned that without a plan, Britain risks abruptly ending ties with its largest trading partner two days later, causing huge economic disruption.
Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King's College London, told AFP that Tuesday's cabinet meeting would be "relatively upbeat".
"The cabinet can say 'OK, the ground is perhaps right to come back to parliament for a fourth time with Mrs May's deal' and say to parliament, 'look, we gave you two chances to come up with something, you've failed both times. Vote for this deal otherwise next week there is a real danger of no-deal'."
Britain voted by 52 percent to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum, but the process has been mired in divisions over the terms of the divorce and what kind of future ties to seek.
The political chaos forced May to postpone Britain's exit from the original date of March 29.
ELUSIVE MAJORITY
Monday's first motion, calling for the government to negotiate a permanent customs union with the EU, was defeated by 276 votes to 273.
The second option, dubbed "Common Market 2.0", would accept May's divorce terms but require her to negotiate a new EU customs arrangement and membership of the EU single market. It was beaten by 282 votes to 261.
A vote on plans for a second referendum went down by 292 to 280.
The final option, which would have instructed government to revoke the legislation to leave the EU a day before Britain is due to crash out, was rejected by 292 to 191.
Nick Boles, the MP who had proposed the Common Market 2.0 plan, quit May's Conservative Party after the vote.
"I have given everything to an attempt to find a compromise," an emotional Boles told parliament.
"I have failed chiefly because my party refuses to compromise. I regret therefore to announce I can no longer sit for this party," he said.
The Conservatives rely on backing from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionists for a narrow majority, which shrunk even further with Boles' departure.
'DIVISION AND DESPAIR'
Tuesday's newspaper front pages raked over the continued impasse.
"Farce as Commons fails to agree any Brexit plan AGAIN," said the Daily Mail.
"We voted for Brexit, all you say is no," said the Daily Express.
The Daily Mirror called it "another night of division and despair".
The Guardian's analysis said May "still faces an intractable decision, a ticking clock, a mutinous party, an aghast British public and a frankly baffled EU."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON--Flying English flags and crying Brexit betrayal, thousands massed outside the British parliament on Friday on what should have been "Independence Day" -- until political paralysis prompted a last-ditch delay.
Nearly 3 years after the divisive referendum that saw 52 percent of voters back leaving the EU, Britain's MPs are at a loss on how, and even whether, the UK can properly leave the bloc.
As lawmakers voted inside to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's agreement struck between London and Brussels -- for a third time -- crowds gathered in the sunshine outside on Parliament Square to demand MPs respect the vote of the majority.
"Brexit hard. Brexit now. Theresa May is a treacherous cow," the crowd chanted.
"This is about democracy. It's that simple. They're playing Russian roulette with our country. I'm so angry about it. I'm 54 and I've never been on a protest in my life," said Debbie, from Billericay, east of London, who was draped in the British flag.
"These Remain MPs have an arrogance. There's going to be a massive kickback against them."
Leave voters milled around holding up placards reading "Trust in politicians is dead" and "What is our liberty for if not to govern ourselves?", while others waved British, English, Welsh, Cornish and other UK flags.
The atmosphere was a mixture of party, wake and protest -- as the vote result triggered shrugs from people whose preference is for Britain to leave the EU with no deal at all.
"Stop the Brexit Betrayal", "Give Our Kingdom Back" and "Free Britain Now" read some of the placards.
QUESTION OF LIBERTY
"This is so much bigger than party politics. It's the fundamental question of what it means to be free. It's 2019 in the UK and we're having to think about our liberty. That worries me," said John Abbott, 37, who traveled down from Nottingham in central England.
"There has been political chicanery and obfuscation by a bunch of rich idiots failing to do their jobs.
Some Leave voters completed a two-week, 270-mile (435-kilometer) protest march from northeast England.
Others were led to the parliament building on the banks of River Thames by Scottish pipe bands and a fishing boat on the back of a truck.
"I'm not going to have my country taken over by a dictatorship," megaphone-wielding Terry Calladine told AFP.
"All the Labour and Conservative MPs are a bunch of frauds that need dragging out by their hair," he said.
"They are opposing what they obtained their seat on. That's about as low as a snake's belly can get."
PARLIAMENT V THE PEOPLE
Suzanne Evans, a eurosceptic former member of the European Parliament, said the implications of failing to leave the EU on time at 2300 GMT on Friday were severe.
"This was supposed to be a celebration of our Independence Day. They promised us. And now we just can't trust them at all. It's absolutely disgraceful," she said of Britain's MPs.
"It is parliament versus the people. This has gone beyond being about Brexit.
"It's about democracy. It's about does the ballot box still work? From the shenanigans across the road, the answer has to be no. We are in dire straits as a country."
Jan Bowman, a 63-year-old artist Jan, said she would have been carrying "fireworks", rather than a large banner, if Britain had really been leaving the EU on Friday.
Small numbers of fiercely pro- and anti-Brexit demonstrators have kept up a constant presence in Westminster in recent months.
Ardent Brexiteers want Britain to leave the bloc now without any divorce deal in place, falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
At the other end of the political spectrum, europhile London Mayor Sadiq Khan launched a campaign bus on Friday emblazoned with the slogan "We are all Londoners".
"I think we can all agree that Brexit has been a complete and utter mess," the mayor told AFP.
Elsewhere, the Church of England has invited parishioners to "cafe-style meetings" over the weekend in a bid to forge some unity over that most British of things: a cup of tea.
Suitable Bible passages and newly-composed prayers will be chosen under the slogan "Together" to prompt the faithful -- whatever their views about leaving the EU -- to start conversations.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON-- Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday offered to resign in a final bid to get parliament to back her Brexit deal, as MPs failed in their own attempt to break the deadlock that has plunged Britain into crisis.
Out of options and at risk of losing control of the process of leaving the European Union, May dramatically announced she would quit if her MPs finally backed her withdrawal agreement.
The offer came just hours before the House of Commons took part in an unprecedented series of votes intended to seek an alternative plan -- but which, in the end, only highlighted the divisions among MPs.
Not one of 8 proposals put forward earned a majority, an outcome that Brexit minister Steve Barclay said "strengthens our view that the deal our government has negotiated is the best option".
MPs have twice rejected May's Brexit deal, both times by large majorities, but she is still trying to convince them -- and on Wednesday made what is expected to be her final offer.
"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," she told a packed meeting of her Conservative MPs.
"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."
May agreed a deal with the EU last week to delay Brexit amid fears Britain was heading for a potentially catastrophic "no deal" exit on Friday.
If her deal is passed by MPs this week, Brexit will happen on May 22 -- but if not, she must return to Brussels before April 12 to explain what happens next.
DUP STILL OPPOSED
The British parliament is deeply divided over Brexit, reflecting splits in the country that voted 52 percent to 48 percent in 2016 to end its 4-decade relationship with the EU.
MPs have so far only been able to agree that they dislike May's deal -- and that they do not want to leave with no deal at all.
Some of the opposition to the prime minister's plan is softening.
Leading Brexit supporter Boris Johnson -- a likely contender to replace May -- told fellow MPs on Wednesday he would support the deal, while several fellow hardliners have also switched.
But a group of Conservatives reported to call themselves "The Spartans" is still holding out -- as is the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Irish party which props up May's government.
The DUP says the "backstop" plan in the deal to keep open the border with EU member Ireland after Brexit poses an "unacceptable threat" to the United Kingdom's political union.
"We will not be supporting the government if they table a fresh meaningful vote (on the Brexit deal)," a spokesman said.
Downing Street still has hopes of returning its deal to MPs for a third vote this week, but said it would only do this if it believed it would win.
The opposition Labour and Scottish National parties are also against the deal.
MPs VOTE ON ALTERNATIVES
Frustrated by May's refusal to change strategy, backbench MPs voted on Monday to stage their own series of votes which might set out an alternative plan. May's cabinet ministers abstained.
MPs were asked to vote yes or no to 8 options -- but there was no majority for any of them.
A plan for a new customs union with the EU after Brexit came closest, defeated by a slim margin of 272 votes to 264, but May has repeatedly ruled out this option.
A proposal to put May's deal, if agreed, to a "confirmatory" public vote also came close to passing, defeated by 295 to 268 votes -- a result that drew huge cheers in the Commons.
Time has now been set aside on Monday for MPs to try and whittle down the most popular options -- however, the motions are not binding on May.
"There are no easy options here," Barclay said, adding: "I call on all members from across this house, in the national interest, to back the prime minister’s deal."
In Thursday's newspapers, The Guardian called May's resignation offer "a stitch-up for a bad deal".
The Sun said the Commons had descended into "total farce" after failing to back any alternative, while May "admitted she has lost control".
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - British lawmakers on Wednesday rejected leaving the European Union without a deal in any scenario, paving the way for a vote to delay Brexit to seek a way out of the country's worst political crisis in generations.
Lawmakers voted by 321 to 278 in favor of a motion that ruled out a potentially disorderly 'no-deal' Brexit under any circumstances.
It went further than the government's own planned motion, which noted that parliament did not want to leave without a deal on March 29, the leaving date set down in law, but stressed that the default legal position was to leave without a deal unless one was ratified by parliament.
While the approved motion has no legal force and ultimately may not prevent a no-deal exit after a possible delay, it carries considerable political force, especially as it demonstrated a substantial rebellion by members of Prime Minister Theresa May's own party.
After 2-and-a-half years of negotiations and 2 failed attempts to pass a Brexit deal proposed by May, the vote against a no-deal exit still leaves undecided how, when and on what terms Britain will leave the club it joined in 1973.
After lawmakers crushed her deal for a second time on Tuesday, May said it was still the best option for leaving in an orderly fashion.
The pound spiked to the day's high and was headed for its biggest daily gain in 2019.
As the United Kingdom's 3-year Brexit crisis spins towards its finale, diplomats and investors see 4 main options: a delay, May's deal passing at the last minute, an accidental no-deal exit or another referendum.
DELAY UNTIL WHEN?
If Britain does seek a delay, it will require the agreement of all the bloc's other 27 members.
The EU would prefer only a short extension, with the deadline of EU-wide parliamentary elections due May 24-26, although it is unclear that this would be long enough to solve the impasse in London.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the bloc would need to know why Britain wanted to extend talks and that it was up to London to find a way out of the deadlock. The EU said there could be no more negotiations on the divorce terms.
As Brexit uncertainty spills into financial markets across the world, investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are offering different probabilities on the outcomes.
"We continue to see a 55 percent chance that a close variant of the prime minister’s Brexit deal is eventually ratified, after a three-month extension of Article 50," Goldman said. It gave a reversal of Brexit a 35 percent probability and a no-deal Brexit 10 percent.
Britons voted by 52-48 percent in 2016 to leave the bloc, a decision that has split the main political parties and exposed deep rifts in British society.
May's deal covers such things as citizens' rights, the status of the Irish border and Britain's divorce bill from the EU. It takes Britain out of the EU single market and customs union, common fisheries and farm policies and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. It also offers a status-quo transition period in which to negotiate trade arrangements.
Under a no-deal exit, there would be no transition period to soften the disruption to trade and regulations. Britain would quit the EU's 500 million-strong single market and customs union and fall back on World Trade Organisation rules, which could mean tariffs on many imports and exports.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK -- The British pound see-sawed Monday as traders jockeyed for position on the eve of another critical parliamentary vote for Prime Minister Theresa May.
Meanwhile, in New York, US stocks snapped a 5-day losing streak, despite a sharp decline early in the session for Boeing following Sunday's deadly crash involving one of its a top-selling passenger jets.
The British currency kicked off the trading cycle in Asia by tanking to its lowest level since February 19 at $1.2949, but then bounced back in the European day -- with analysts trying to guess where it may head next.
As British MPs prepare to vote again on a Brexit divorce deal on Tuesday, the prime minister appears to have little to show for her recent efforts, prompting warnings of another humiliating defeat.
"We are 24-hours away from May's supposed 'meaningful' Brexit vote and the rumor is that (she) could lose this vote by a wider margin than the last one," said Oanda analyst Dean Popplewell. "As expected, sterling remains volatile".
May was expected on Monday to travel to Strasbourg in a last bid to win a breakthrough deal.
European markets notched gains, but in Asia, bourses were mixed as bargain-buying in the wake of last week's sharp losses was offset by Friday's weak US February jobs report and ongoing concerns about the global economy.
Elsewhere, on Wall Street shares in Boeing fell 5.3 percent for the day, paring earlier losses of more than 12 percent that threatened to wipe out tens of billions of the company's market value.
SOOTHING WORDS FROM POWELL
Two of the company's highly popular 737 MAX 8 jets have crashed in 5 months, including a fatal accident in Ethiopia on Sunday.
The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average, in which Boeing's stock is heavily weighted, rose 0.8, erasing steep losses from earlier in the day, while the S&P and Nasdaq both rose even higher.
Investors were comforted by Sunday's broadcast remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who reiterated that the central bank would be "patient" before raising interest rates again.
"He confirmed everything we knew: patience, confidence in the economy and the labor market, the Fed's independence," Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services told AFP.
"But above all he gave the impression of stability, which is an extremely reassuring position at the head of a body as important as the Fed."
Last year, President Donald Trump angrily and very publicly denounced the Fed's "crazy" interest rate hikes, breaking with traditional reserve from presidents toward the world's most powerful central bank.
iPhone maker Apple soared 3.5 percent following an upgrade from analysts at Bank of America.
The Commerce Department meanwhile reported US retail sales had recovered slightly after a dismal December, pointing to slower growth at least in the first quarter of this year.
KEY FIGURES AT 5 A.M.
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3149 from $1.3015 at 2200 GMT on Friday
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.53 pence from 86.30 pence
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1248 from $1.1235
Dollar/yen: UP at 111.20 yen from 111.17 yen
New York - UP 0.8 percent at 25,650.88 (close)
New York - UP 1.5 percent at 2,783.30 (close)
New York - UP 2.0 percent at 7,558.06 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,130.62 points (close)
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.8 percent at 11,543.48 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 5,265.96 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,304.44 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 21,125.09 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.0 percent at 28,503.30 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.9 percent at 3,026.99 (close)
Oil - Brent Crude: UP 84 cents at $66.58 per barrel
Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 72 cents at $56.79
source: news.abs-cbn.com
