EU maneuvering to stop Britain exiting bloc: Analyst
The European Union (EU) is maneuvering to block Britain's exit from the bloc, even though London is becoming more inclined towards a soft Brexit, says a political analyst.
Dr. Rodney Shakespeare made the remarks during an interview with Press TV on Sunday, while discussing an opinion poll that indicated more Brits now wanted the country to stay in the EU.
While 51 percent of Britons prefer to keep European Union membership, 41 percent want to leave the bloc, according to the BMG Research poll of 1,400 people conducted for The Independent.
Shakespeare, however, dismissed the result as a mere opinion poll that mostly involved so-called Remainers.
“The political position within the UK and in Parliament is coming to reflect a consensus of opinion in favor of a soft Brexit,” he said.
The EU, on the other hand, was against Brexit and would do its best to reverse the result of the June 2016 referendum, where 52 percent of UK voters opted to end the country’s membership in the bloc, the scholar argued.
“The EU will be maneuvering the situation so … in fact they are trying to stop Brexit, there is no doubt about that,” he added.
EU leaders have been increasingly frustrated about divisions in UK Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet over Brexit, saying they were still unsure what the UK wanted, even after five rounds of negotiations.
The slow progress of Brexit talks has fueled fears that May's government may collapse, or worse that London may fail to strike a withdrawal agreement with Brussels before its formal exit from the EU on March 29, 2019.
EU leaders on Friday approved the opening of the next stage of Brexit talks after “enough progress” on the key aspects of the divorce, namely the amount that the UK needs to pay upon leaving the bloc, the issue of EU citizens leaving in the UK and the Northern Ireland border.
Apparently, London has agreed to pay a settlement bill amounting to between 45 and 55 billion euros and protect the rights of some three million European citizens living in the country.
The breakthrough in the talks came shortly after May’s Brexit plans suffered a fresh blow as lawmakers voted to give Parliament a legal guarantee of a vote on the final Brexit deal, something May had rejected in the past.
Shakespeare said the vote did not “damage” May and, if anything, it indicated a more serious UK approach to the talks.
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