Defeats in a victory for May.

On Dec 11, May announced that she will be postponing the voting on her Brexit deal after finally realizing that her deal would die in parliament with a significant margin.


This had caused an uproar within the house of commons, with many arguing that May is trying to save a sinking ship. In her speech to parliament May highlights that she will go back to the EU to seek reassurance on her deal, specifically on the backstop. Yet this move was enough to break the camel's back with her own conservative party triggering a vote of no confidence in her leadership. In the end May had won this vote of no confidence having 200 votes in favour of her leadership and 117 against it.

But is this an actual victory for May? Well not exactly although she has won the confidence vote, meaning her leadership cannot be contested for a year within her party it does not actually mean that everyone is now happy with her. This vote highlighted the divide within her own party a significant divide against her deal, which the opposition party can take advantage of by triggering a vote of no confidence against the whole government. This highlighted to the British people how divided and weak their government is looking, making it easier for the EU council to take what they want from the deal.

This divide was so prominent that a Labour mp removed the ceremonial mace, a symbol of the queens authority giving permission for debate to take place in the House. This action was met with uproar and ended up with the Speaker kicking out the MP for his action. But this action shows the absolute anger against May's deal, highlighting what many MP's are thinking they don't want to debate the deal they want to vote on it.

So what can May do at this point? well now realistically there are two options for her; take back the deal with minor language changes which will surely die in the house or delay as much as possible the deal so that MP's will be pressured to agree to her deal rather than a no deal. This ultimately highlights May's position; She's stuck between a rock and a hard place and realistically there is one way for her to retain her control of her power by taking the vote to the people once more. This is a prospect which May hates, but will have to cave in to especially with many Labour MP's calling for it.

So in the end another referendum must be taken to restore power in the house and minimise the protest which are happening around the UK as the March is fast approaching.

    Being in the European Union has its advantages, and I think that is what the British are beginning to          understand, what those who are tempted by the Brexit are going to reflect upon.- Francoise Holland.

Another Defeat For May

On the 4th of December The House of Commons voted in a historic vote to find the government headed by the Prime minister Theresa May to be in contempt of Parliament. The motion was passed due to the government disclosing only part of the legal advice on the Brexit deal ahead of the vote scheduled on  the 11 of December, instead of disclosing the full legal advice given to the government by the Attorney General.

What could his mean for May's government?

Well strictly speaking they are not obliged to publish the full legal document because the vote was not binding, yet should the government decide not to publish this advice the Parliament may take further actions suspending members from the House of Commons hindering May's planned Brexit vote making it more likely for the deal to die in the House.

Yet May is taking this issue quite lightly according to Lain Watson a BBC political correspondent  

            any defeat over the legal advice would be likely to come as "an unwelcome                     distraction rather than a disaster" for the prime minister.

so what does this say about May? she could be taking this too lightly avoiding all signs that the vote is bound to fail in the House whilst being too confident in her ability, or this could be part of a greater plan to blame the House should the UK crash out of the Eu with no deal just to save her political career.

But would May be that reckless all signs point otherwise. May has been trying to please all sides in her Brexit negotiations and tiptoeing around the hard headed stance the EU has taken on the single market, a crucial lifeline between the EU and UK trade. yet her plans has fallen short in satisfying anyone.

With these defeats May's government is looking evermore likely to loose control of the Brexit negotiations as more ministers in the house will (ahead of the Tuesday vote which looks like its going to fail) have more say on the negotiations process. In turn this will hinder May's vision on a future relationship with the EU as ministers will push to remove the back stop, which could see the Good Friday agreement be broken should the UK leave with no deal. This might once again flare tensions in the region which could see the dissolution of the British Union a prospect no one in the House of Commons wants to witness.

To take back control of the deal May will, in the end require to take back the deal to the people with a vote. This vote is most likely to suggest three options for the voters being; leave the EU with the government's deal, leave the eu with no deal (which would sink the UK into recession) or a third option remain in the EU. With this vote which might be May's final option will give her back the full control on Brexit as this would be the final people's vote.

A Doomed plan?

On November 25th the president of the European council, Donald Tusk announced that the EU 27 have approved May's Brexit deal clearing the path for the prime minster to take it to the House of Commons. Yet not everyone is as happy as the EU 27, as many ministers in parliament have voiced their disapproval at May's plan insisting that they have lost their veto power their voice as well as their representation in the eu parliament as now they can't decide on new policies which will directly affect the UK, a major issue with the leavers since they wanted all ties to be severed from the EU so they can "take back control of our own laws".

Left Theresa May right Donald Tusk

Many conservatives MP's has said that they will vote against this deal since it goes against the core of the "people vote" which for them translate to all ties being cut from the EU, with some conservative mp filling letters of no confidence against May which could trigger a leadership contest. This in the end will eventually hinder the Brexit process since time is not on the UK side with 29th March pressing fast.

To add to May's troubles Mr Gyimah has resigned his cabinet role and announced he will be voting against the Brexit plan making him the 10th cabinet minster to do so which highlights the divide not only within the conservative party but within May's own cabinet. Mr Gyimah resignation highlights what many are thinking that this deal is looking out only for the EU's interests since the UK has sunk £1.4 billion into the Galileo project which is an important project for the UK's military, so in the end why shouldn't a high paying investor not be allowed to access the project which they have funded?

Mr Gyimah

So with a deal which is evermore seeming to die in the house of common what can May do? Well there are currently two realistic options for her which she highlighted in her speech to the house of common which would be; 1. Crash out of the EU on the 29th of march with no deal, which according to the bank of England would sink the UK's economy to a recession or 2. No Brexit at all which will result in May's political suicide as well as legal issue since the parliament would be ignoring the people's vote. This issue can be avoided by taking another referendum to the people and letting them decide between May's plan, no deal or no Brexit at all, which could save the reputation of many ministers since they would not be taking the final decision in the process.

Yet May is oddly optimistic about her chances in the house of common insisting she could get the deal through even if some of the minister in her own party vote against it, and if the deal would fail she did not rule out a second vote on it all be it with slight changes to the deal since the same proposal cannot be heard in the  house of commons twice.

So if all of May's options are exhausted what could happen? Well Mr Rees Mogg could get what he wants a leadership contest (which  seems unlikely but still is a possibility) within the conservative party. But who would be able to step up to the plate and relieve May's troubled position she finds herself in? Well "TLDR News" on Youtube answers this question and goes into further details in his video:

An introduction

Theresa May in Parliament

Welcome to my blog: Brexit and the EU, as the title suggest this blog will cover everything Brexit and its implication on the European union as well as the battles Prime Minister Theresa May will face back home in parliament. I will also dive into the impact Brexit will have on Malta's economy and future relations with the UK.



I have chosen the topic of Brexit as it is a complex situation with a lot of misinformation surrounding it. As a Communication student i wish to dive deeper into this matter and project facts whilst highlighting different opinions and views on the split of the UK and EU. 

News on Brexit has been diverse depending on the policies of the news organisations, they will either emphasize the benefits of Brexit knowing they cant keep their promise or they will fear monger the whole idea. I believe that many news coverage on Brexit has been over exaggerated especially during the referendum itself with some members like Nigel Farage intentionally promising  reforms knowing he cant implement them and as a result letting the media run wild with his proposed policies.

Nigel Farage famous campaign pledge