British Prime Minister Theresa May is fighting for her political life and approval of a draft Brexit deal. European Union leaders show very little appetite for reopening talks on the deal if she fails on either front.
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European Union leaders warned on Friday against any British attempt to renegotiate a draft Brexit deal as British Prime Minister Theresa May faced down stiff opposition to the agreement.
"This is a withdrawal agreement which took the best part of two years to negotiate involving 28 countries," said Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. "If you start trying to amend it or unthink it, you might find that the whole thing unravels."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said any changes to the draft were unlikely. "A deal is only a deal if both sides of the channel agree to it," he said.
May's nemeses
May was defiant in defending the deal on Thursday after it was ravaged by some UK lawmakers for failing to secure a clean break from the EU and others for being worse than EU membership.
Several ministers, including May's chief Brexit negotiator, Dominic Raab, resigned in protest, while dozens of pro-Brexit members of her Conservative Party signed letters requesting a no-confidence vote in her leadership.
The prospect of May's ouster or the deal's failure in the British Parliament has raised concerns that Britain could try to renegotiate the agreement before its scheduled exit on March 29, 2019.
But EU leaders already signaled on Thursday evening that there was little appetite for more negotiations.
"We have a document on the table that has been adopted by the EU and the UK, and so for me, the question of further negotiations does not arise," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Brexit: UK ministers falling like dominoes
A day after Prime Minister Theresa May presented the UK-EU draft withdrawal agreement to her Cabinet, a slew of ministers have quit in protest at the deal. Rob Mudge takes a look at who's gone so far.
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We was raabed
Dominic Raab, the UK's Brexit secretary, who was nominally the chief British negotiator for the deal now on the table said on Thursday: " I cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU." Raab was reportedly disgruntled at being sidelined in the negotiations in favor of Olly Robbins — a civil servant who's close to May.
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On her vey
Esther McVey, the work and pensions minister, tendered her resignation shortly after Raab. In a letter to May she wrote that "It will be no good trying to pretend to [voters] that this deal honors the result of the referendum when it is obvious to everyone it doesn't."
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'UK in a half-way house'
Shailesh Vara, the junior Northern Ireland minister, became the first member of May's government to resign over the deal on Thursday. Vara, who voted for remain in the 2016 referendum, said May's deal "leaves the UK in a half-way house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation."
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Not so brave
Suella Braverman, a junior minister in the Department for Exiting the European Union, also quit saying in a letter "I now find myself unable to sincerely support the deal agreed yesterday by cabinet." The proposed Northern Ireland backstop, she wrote, was not
what the British people voted for, and threatened to break up the United Kingdom.
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'Unacceptable deal'
Junior Education Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in her resignation letter that it was now clear to her that "the negotiations have been built on the UK trying to appease the EU and we have allowed ourselves to be led into a deal which is unacceptable to the 17.4 million voters who asked for us to step away from the EU project and become an independent nation once again."
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'Does not deliver a good and fair Brexit'
Ranil Jayawardena, parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions, wrote in his resignation letter that the draft deal is not fair to those who voted to leave the EU "taking back control of our laws, our borders and our money. The draft agreement does not do that."
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Brothers Johnson
Jo Johnson, the younger brother of Boris, who resigned as foreign secretary over Brexit in July, set the ball rolling last week after he resigned as transport minister over what he called Theresa May's "delusional" Brexit plans. Johnson — who backs Britain remaining in the EU — said he is supporting calls for a second referendum on whether the country should leave the bloc.
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French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was blunter, warning that Britain and the EU needed to prepare themselves "for the possibility of a 'no-deal' Brexit."
May's hope
May received some respite on Friday as she announced that Stephen Barclay, a little-known junior health minister, would take over as Brexit secretary.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove, another so-called "Brexiteer," did not resign Friday despite speculation he might do so.
May's staunchly pro-Brexit international trade secretary, Liam Fox, also came to her aid. "I hope that across Parliament we'll recognize that a deal is better than no deal," he said.
EU leaders are set to discuss the draft at a special summit in Brussels on November 25.
