London: With her strategy unclear and her position insecure, Prime Minister Theresa May plunges this week into tortuous divorce talks with the European Union (EU) that will shape Britain’s prosperity and global influence for generations to come.
Ms May’s government is reeling from a crisis of her own making: the loss of her parliamentary majority in a June 8 snap election she did not need to call. Her entire Brexit strategy is being picked apart in public by her ministers, her lawmakers and her allies on the eve of formal negotiations which begin in Brussels on Monday.
Brexit minister David Davis insisted on Sunday there would be no turning back. “As I head to Brussels to open official talks to leave the EU, there should be no doubt — we are leaving the European Union,” said Mr Davis, who will launch the talks with chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier.
With Ms May still hammering out the details of a post-election deal to stay in power with the support of a small Northern Irish party, there are fears of a disorderly exit that would weaken the West, imperil Britain’s $2.5 trillion economy and undermine London’s position as the only financial centre to rival New York.
Leaving the EUis now the official consensus of both the Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party. Amid such upheaval, though, there is little agreement on what kind of Brexit May should try for — even assuming she can hold onto her job.
“The United Kingdom’s political tectonic plates are moving at the very moment when we are negotiating Brexit,” said Anand Menon, professor of politics at King’s College London.
