Brexit: Is Theresa May playing ‘Deal or No Deal’?

CNBC

Some believe that UK Prime Minister Theresa May is trying to run out the clock and leave the Parliament with the choice of her proposed Brexit deal or no deal:

Deal or no deal, UK parliament will debate Brexit next steps – minister

December 11, 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Parliament will debate and vote upon the government’s next steps whether or not Prime Minister Theresa May has a Brexit deal for them to approve, junior Brexit minister Robin Walker said on Tuesday. … “We will have a vote in this house, a motion before this house, by the 21st of January. That is in all scenarios I talked through in my statement.” https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-vote-parliament/deal-or-no-deal-uk-parliament-will-debate-brexit-next-steps-minister-idUKKBN1OA1D9

December 11, 2018

Back in Westminster, May’s refusal to commit to a timeline for a vote is inspiring speculation that she plans to “run out the clock” to force MPs into backing her deal by effectively leaving them two options: Her deal, or no deal. Parliament leaves for a holiday recess on Dec. 20, and won’t return until Jan. 7.

Even if the EU relents and reopens the deal, May doesn’t expect material changes to be made. Her new strategy was perhaps best summarized by an anonymous cabinet source during an interview with a Bloomberg reporter.

A Cabinet ally of May’s, speaking on condition of anonymity, put the prime minister’s strategy more charitably, saying that if the deal can’t go through then the only option is to keep talking – to EU leaders, in the hope they might offer something more, and to lawmakers, in the hope they might ask a little less.

One anonymous “cabinet source” told the BBC that May and her senior ministers would discuss “preparations for no deal” during tomorrow’s cabinet meeting (the meeting was moved from Tuesday to allow May some time to try and ‘handbag’ the EU). While May and her time have long prioritized contingency planning for a worst-case scenario, the BBC’s source said this would now take on a “special urgency.” https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-11/eu-insists-brexit-deal-wont-be-renegotiated-may-hopes-run-out-clock

“Deal or No Deal” was the name of a television game show that was popular in the USA and UK for a time. It was essentially a high risk game that was based upon luck. Brexit is more complicated and serious.

The EU does not want to renegotiate its Brexit offer–and its two presidents say that it will not:

EU rules out reworking Brexit deal, prepares for no-deal: Tusk

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU leaders will not renegotiate Britain’s Brexit deal, including the Irish border “backstop”, their chairman Donald Tusk said on Monday after Prime Minister Theresa May put off a parliamentary vote on a package that was facing heavy defeat.

EU officials said European Council President Tusk could meet May as early as Tuesday to prepare talks on Brexit during a regular Brussels summit which May will attend on Thursday and Friday. Tusk said he had scheduled a meeting of the other 27 leaders on Brexit, to be held at some point during the summit.

“We will not renegotiate the deal, including the backstop,” he said on Twitter after May said she would go back to European neighbors to seek new reassurances about the insurance clause which would bind Britain into a customs union with the EU in order to avoid a “hard” EU border for troubled Northern Ireland. 12/10/18 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-tusk/eu-rules-out-reworking-brexit-deal-prepares-for-no-deal-tusk-idUSKBN1O926F

I will meet @theresa_may this evening in Brussels. I remain convinced that the #Brexit deal we have is the best – and only – deal possible. There is no room for renegotiation, but further clarifications are possible.

— Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU) December 11, 2018

As far as the EU goes, BBC’s Kevin Connolly reported a while back (see EU states that UK must pay a price for Brexit and be worse off than EU member states):

The 27 EU Remainer states are adamant that Britain will pay a price for leaving and will be worse off outside than the union than it is on the inside.

Now, Theresa May keeps hoping to get the EU Brexit deal approved anyway.

The EU is pushing a deal that many in the UK do not want. Jean-Claude Juncker said last year that the UK would regret its Brexit decision:

13 September 2017

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker … said Europe’s economy was “bouncing back” and the EU had to move beyond Brexit. …

Addressing the UK’s decision to leave the EU on 29 March 2019, he said that “we will always regret this” and, departing from his script, he added “and you will regret it soon, too”. “We will move on because Brexit isn’t everything. It isn’t the future of Europe – it’s not the be all and end all.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41251914

If the proposed deal is approved as is, it is not a total break from the EU (at least at this stage; see also EU approves Brino Brexit deal, but deal still needs approval by UK and EU parliaments). The EU will still be upset with the UK and later will further insist on outcomes that many in the UK do not want.

Euro-skeptic Nigel Farage has strong words about Prime Minister May’s Brexit deal:

“The Worst Deal in History”: Theresa May’s Surrender

December 4, 2018

This “deal” will cost the British taxpayer, £60 billion; require that the British still comply with EU rules without having any say in what those will be, and worst of all, it permits the British to leave the EU only if the EU agrees. As Nigel Farage, former UKIP leader and one of creators of Brexit, asks, “Why should it?”

This “deal” effectively commits the British to subjugation by the EU in perpetuity, with no recourse should the British change their mind. It is a prison. It is also the first step of the EU toward its dream of global governance: unaccountable, untransparent, unelected by the public, and with no way out.

The French will still be able to fish in British waters, and the Spanish will claim that the UK will have to open talks on the sovereignty of Gibraltar. As Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said, “Once the UK has left the EU, Gibraltar’s political, legal and even geographic relationship with the EU will go through Spain…”

New trade barriers would also be put in place between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, fundamentally undermining the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom.

This “deal” is, in reality, a sell-out. Farage has described it as “The worst deal in history”; even more wretched, as he points out, is that — as one cannot leave it without the EU’s permission — it offers Britain even less sovereignty than it has now. …

There must be no “deal” — apart from the one for which the British voted and were repeatedly promised (falsely as it turns out) would be honoured. 12/04/19 https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13360/brexit-no-deal

While I would not agree that Theresa May has been pushing “the worst deal in history,” there are obviously many issues that many have about it.

I have been warning for some time that Northern Ireland would be a major issue with Brexit, and it clearly is.

At this stage, Theresa May seems to hope that given the option of her deal or no deal, that Parliament will choose her route.

But no one is sure about that.

She is playing a high stakes political game.

A no deal Brexit is often referred to as a hard Brexit.

Many who voted for a Brexit seem to prefer a hard Brexit to Theresa May’s deal.

But most in Parliament do not seem to want the UK to exit the European Union, so some like at least aspects of Theresa May’s deal.

As I mentioned last week, some now see less chance of a Brexit at all:

5 December 2018

US investment bank JPMorgan said on Wednesday the chances of Britain calling off its divorce from the European Union had increased after a string of humiliating parliamentary defeats for prime minister Theresa May cast new doubt over her plan to quit the union and sent sterling higher. …

In one of the biggest shifts in perceptions since the shock 2016 vote to exit the EU, JPMorgan raised the probability of Britain ultimately staying in to 40 per cent from 20 per cent.

Ever since the referendum, investors have speculated that the UK’s biggest economic and political shift since the second World War could ultimately be thwarted, though it was unclear what the mechanism might be.

“The UK now appears to have the option of revoking unilaterally and taking a period of time of its own choosing to decide what happens next,” JPMorgan economist Malcolm Barr wrote in a note to clients.

He placed a 10 per cent probability on a no-deal Brexit, down from 20 per cent, and a 50 per cent probability on an orderly Brexit, down from 60 per cent. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/brexit-jpmorgan-says-probability-of-uk-staying-in-eu-has-doubled-to-40-1.3720922

Even if there is a ‘hard’ (no deal with the EU) or ‘soft’ (May’s proposal) Brexit. or even if there is NO Brexit, all this Brexit talk has upset the Europeans and they will not forgive and forget.

Consider that the Bible itself teaches that Europe will reorganize and unite (Revelation 17:12-13; see also Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?), as well as become the dominant world trading power for a time (Revelation 17 & 18). The Bible also teaches of a time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7)–and this will include the UK (as well as the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand).

Europe is not going to ‘get over’ the Brexit and will one day take actions that most of those in the UK (as well as USA and Canada) will not consider possible (cf. Daniel 8:24-25, 11:39; see also USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Brexit and the fate of Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, the UK, and the USA On April 29, 2017, 27 of the nations of the European Union agreed to certain guidelines for the negotiations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which gave its notice to leave on March 29, 2017. These guidelines are contrary to what the UK wants. Does the EU intend the UK to pay a price for leaving the EU? What does Spain want? What does the Republic of Ireland want? Will Northern Ireland and Gibraltar eventually fall under European control? Will the UK and USA be conquered? What does the Bible teach? Dr. Thiel answer these questions and more in this video.
Forbes’ Brexit Monster is the Beast of Revelation Various ones have been properly convinced that there is a plan for a European superstate. Forbes’ writer Tom Worstall wrote that the Brexit vote was about the United Kingdom “not joining the monster of the European Union to come.” The Bible tells of a Beast monster that will arise in the end times in Europe. Dr. Thiel cites news reports, as well as the Old and New Testaments, to show that the monster many fear will arise in Europe, despite the vote by the British to exit the European Union. This is a video.
Will the UK Lose Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? For many years, the major sea gates of the world were possessed/controlled by the United States (Panama Canal and certain locations in the Pacific ocean) and the British Empire (Straits of Malacca, Singapore, Suez Canal, Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Simon’s Town/Cape of Good Hope, Malta, etc.), and many are no longer under their control. Spain wants Gibraltar and Argentina wants the Falklands (also known as the Malvinas). UK Prime Minister David Cameron says the UK will defend the Falklands Gibraltar. Does the Bible give clues as to what will happen with those ‘sea gates’? Do promises made the Jacob’s mother Rebekah play a role? What about Deuteronomy 28? This is a video.
Post Brexit Prophecy On June 23, 2016, the voters of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) chose to leave the European Union. Now with this BRitish EXIT (Brexit) vote, what is prophesied to happen to the UK? Will the UK do well or be taken over and made slaves? Dr. Thiel explains from biblical prophecies what is ahead for the UK, Europe, and even the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This is a video.
Will the UK Lose Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? Spain wants Gibraltar and Argentina wants the Falklands (also known as the Malvinas). Does the Bible give clues as to what will happen with these ‘sea gates’? A version of the article in the Spanish language would be ¿Perderá el Reino Unido a Gibraltar y las Islas Falkland (Malvinas)?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies? People of all faiths may be surprised to see what various Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophets have been predicting as many of their predictions will be looked to in the 21st century.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. A related sermon is titled: Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?