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Friday 13 International Friday, December 7, 2018 Brexit hardliners resist pleas to vote for May’s deal European Research Group under pressure if deal sinks LONDON: Conservative Brexiteers, having peared unconcerned by her warnings that if they spent their entire careers railing against the Eu- vote against the agreement on Tuesday Britain ropean Union, are resisting pleas from Theresa may not end up leaving the EU. May to support her deal and could try to unseat her in the aftermath of next week’s vote. The Brexit ‘above everything else’ prime minister has already survived a half- The ERG fell short of securing the 48 letters hearted coup from the EU’s most ardent oppo- needed from MPs to trigger a no-confidence nents, the party’s so-called European Research vote, but following a defeat for May in parliament Group (ERG), but will be under severe pressure next week they could have more luck. The group if her deal is sunk as seems likely. was originally set up in 1993 to oppose Britain’s She commands a wafer-thin majority in par- continued integration into the European Com- liament, and with opposition parties promising to munity through the Maastricht Treaty. Many of vote the deal down, she cannot afford to lose its key players are veterans of that battle and are more than a handful of her own MPs. But around ideologically bent on leaving the EU at almost 100 have so far said they are opposed to the any personal or political price, having already agreement, throwing the whole process into helped bring down then prime minister John LONDON: A handout photograph released by the UK Parliament shows Britain’s Prime chaos with less than four months to go before Major over the issue. Minister Theresa May, center, standing at the dispatch box as she speaks during the Britain leaves the EU. Their concerns have deep- “They put leaving the European Union prob- weekly question and answer session, Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), in the House ened after government legal advice revealed a ably above everything else, including party loy- of Commons in London. — AFP risk that Britain could end up indefinitely stuck alty,” said Nick Wright, teaching fellow in EU in an awkward customs arrangement with the Politics at University College London. “They just They formed the backbone of the official tions”. Fellow Conservative MP Jacob Rees- European Union, with Northern Ireland as a sep- want to get us to the 29th of March and they Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum, but Mogg took over leadership of the group after it arate economic entity. don’t care if there’s a no-deal-once we’re out ran into frequent conflict with its combative was relaunched in 2016 to lobby for Britain to May has tried to win them over, acknowledg- we’re out.” Among this group, nicknamed the leader Dominic Cummings. “His narrative was leave all of the EU’s institutions as part of a deal. ing on Wednesday the “concerns” raised by fel- “Paleosceptics” by journalist Tim Shipman in his that the eurosceptics were completely incompe- However, their failed attempt to unseat May and low Conservatives. “I’m continuing to listen to Brexit book “All Out War”, are former Tory party tent and their image was hopeless,” Jenkin told an amateurish press conference presided over by colleagues on that and considering a way for- leader Iain Duncan-Smith, Bernard Jenkin, Owen Shipman, with Cummings believing them to be five veteran eurosceptics-all men-did little to ward,” she told MPs. Brexiteers have also ap- Paterson, Bill Cash and Peter Bone. naive and obsessed with “constitutional abstrac- alter this reputation. —AFP .

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