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UK PM’s close ally frustrated with Brexit deal, calls it a ‘gamble’

Conservative party MP, Michael Fallon walks outside the offices of the BBC in London on July 10, 2018. (AFP photo)

British Prime Minister Theresa May has been hit with a fresh blow in her efforts to go through the parliament with a controversial European Union divorce agreement, as Michael Fallon, a former defense minister and a key ally of May in the divided Conservative Party, has said the deal is "doomed" and must be renegotiated.

Fallon told BBC Radio on Tuesday that he had changed his mind about the Brexit deal negotiated and championed by May, saying he would reject it once it comes for a final vote in the House of Commons on December 12.

“I don’t think this gives us the certainty that we need and it is therefore a gamble.” Fallon said, adding that British negotiators should head back to Brussels to secure a better divorce agreement.

May has embarked on a massive campaign of promoting her Brexit deal among the British public as she hopes the people persuade their lawmakers in the parliament to approve the deal and allow it to go into effect on March 29, 2019, when Britain officially leaves the EU.

The premier told the parliament on Monday that the deal, approved by the EU on Sunday, was the only and best option available for Britain. She warned that the country could face serious problems if the parliament rejects the deal.

“There is a choice which this house will have to make ... no-one knows what would happen if this deal doesn't pass, it would open the door to more division and more uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail,” said May.

Senior figures from May’s Conservative Party have time and again said that they will reject the deal. About 20 of those politicians have served under May’s premiership which began after the Brexit referendum of June 2016.

Fallon, who resigned from the government last year after a journalist accused him of sexual harassment, was one of May’s most trusted lawmakers and had shown that he will stand by the Brexit deal.

However, responding to BBC’s question whether he would vote against the current deal, Fallon said: “As it stands at the moment, yes.”


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