An emergency meeting of the UK cabinet on November 14 has been called to examine a framework Brexit agreement reached by British and EU negotiators.
“Cabinet will meet at 2pm tomorrow [November 13] to consider the draft agreement the negotiating teams have reached in Brussels, and to decide on next steps,” Downing Street said in a statement.
As reported by FRANCE 24, a European source said a technical agreement had been struck but still needed political approval both on the British and European sides. “It is a long stretch, but tomorrow is, how you say, squeaky bum time.”
Meanwhile, Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE cited two government sources saying a text crucially resolves the Irish border issue – a key sticking point.
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet is splintered on Brexit, with some senior ministers opposed to provisions that could keep the UK closely tied to the European Union for years to come.
According to FRANCE 24, it is possible that cabinet approval could pave the way for a historic EU-UK summit in Brussels at the end of November that would finalise the agreement’s text.
However, May would still need to secure strong support from her own Conservative Party, where dozens of eurosceptics have opposed the reported frameworks of the deal.
Her coalition partners from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have also threatened to vote against the agreement if they find it splinters the province from the rest of Britain.
As for Labour, the party has been clear from the beginning that we need a deal to support jobs and the economy. If this deal doesn’t meet our six tests and work for the whole country, then we will vote against it.