Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May “has called off a crucial vote in Parliament on whether to approve her Brexit deal, after being warned she was on course for a devastating defeat,” Bloomberg reports.
“May’s office publicly insisting it was going ahead as recently as 11.20 a.m. on Monday but the prospect of an overwhelming revolt from members of Parliament forced the premier to think again.”
“The U.K. should be allowed to reverse Brexit, according to an advisory opinion from the European Union’s top court that will fuel the campaign to thwart the divorce,” Bloomberg reports.
“The opinion, which isn’t binding, comes at a crucial moment for Prime Minister Theresa May who’s trying to convince Parliament to back the deal she brought back from Brussels but faces opposition on all sides.”
“The advice will embolden those who are fighting to reverse Brexit — a campaign that’s gathering momentum. But May could also use it to her advantage as the country heads into uncharted Brexit territory. The possibility that the U.K. can go back on its decision will be alarming to Brexit hardliners and could encourage them to grudgingly support May’s much-maligned roadmap for how the country should quit the bloc.”
“Britain’s opposition Labour Party is ramping up the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May, saying it will call a no-confidence vote in the Conservative leader if Parliament rejects her Brexit deal on Dec. 11,” the AP reports.
“May is battling to persuade skeptical British lawmakers to back the deal agreed between her government and the European Union last month. Rejecting it would leave the U.K. facing a messy, economically damaging ‘no-deal’ Brexit on March 29.”
“I have great respect for the U.K. United Kingdom. Great respect. People call it Britain. They call it Great Britain. They used to call it England, different parts.”
— President Trump, at a rally in Pennsylvania.
British Prime Minister Theresa May managed to sign up her fractious cabinet to a UK-EU free trade area under a “common rulebook” that will match EU standards on foods and goods, the Guardian reports.
“The plan has alarmed Brexiters, who believe it signals that Britain will in effect remain subject to EU rules and unable to negotiate new trade deals.”
President Trump “will almost entirely avoid London during his four-day visit to the UK next week, Downing Street has said, unveiling an itinerary likely to prompt accusations the US president is trying to avoid planned protests against him,” the Guardian reports.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has approved a request from protesters to fly a blimp designed to look like an infant President Trump during the president’s visit to the U.K. next week, Sky News reports.
“Arron Banks, the millionaire businessman who bankrolled Nigel Farage’s campaign to quit the European Union, had multiple meetings with Russian embassy officials in the run-up to the Brexit referendum,” the Observer reports.
“Banks, who gave £12m of services to the campaign, becoming the biggest donor in UK history, has repeatedly denied any involvement with Russian officials, or that Russian money played any part in the Brexit campaign.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the United Kingdom would expel 23 Russian diplomats after the Kremlin failed to take responsibility for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the HuffPost reports.
President Trump condemned “leaks of sensitive information,” responding to a complaint by Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, over disclosures of details from the investigation into Britain’s deadliest terrorist attack since 2005, the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “I am asking the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to launch a complete review of this matter, and, if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Trump administration officials were criticized for leaking the identity of the Manchester bomber before British police officially named him, The Guardian reports.
“Salman Abedi was identified in media reports that attributed ‘US officials’ as the source even as their British counterparts remained tight-lipped… The disclosures renewed concerns over leaks from Donald Trump’s administration two weeks after the US president revealed classified information, apparently from Israel, to Russia’s foreign minister in a White House meeting. Critics warn that US allies may be less willing to share intelligence in the future.”
“Donald Trump waving from the Queen’s royal carriage is not a scenario many would have foreseen a year ago, but it has become a very real prospect, forcing security services to plan an unprecedented lockdown,” the Times of London reports.
“The White House has made clear it regards the carriage procession down the Mall as an essential element of the itinerary for the visit currently planned for the second week of October… Security sources have warned, however, that the procession will require a ‘monster’ security operation, far greater than for any recent state visit.”
“British lawmakers on Monday will debate whether to withdraw an invitation to President Trump for a state visit — an offer extended with unprecedented speed,” the Washington Post reports.
“The debate, to be held in Parliament’s Westminster Hall, was triggered after a petition calling on the British government to cancel the state visit amassed more than 1.8 million signatures. A counter-petition urging the government to support the visit, signed by 300,000, will also be debated.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →