Jubak’s Picks: Brexit Chaos

Well, the vote was closer this time. After losing a vote on her Brexit deal by 230 votes in January, Parliament only defeated Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal by 391 to 242 votes, a difference of 149 votes. Which still means that the United Kingdom is set to crash out of the European Union by the end of March with no deal setting out the terms of that departure. That means still no agreement on the status
of the border between Northern Ireland (which will leave the European Union) and Ireland (which will remain in the European Union.)

May will now ask Parliament to vote to postpone Brexit–due on March 29–and a vote is expected tomorrow on taking a no-deal exit off the table. There is no guarantee that the European Union will grant an extension. Leaders of the bloc have publicly asked what has changed to make an extension worth granting.

May had tried to shift enough votes to secure passage of her newest Brexit deal by arguing that the alternative to her proposal was either an exit with no deal or a second referendum on exiting the European Union. That did gain her some votes but not enough. Now her government is in even greater danger of facing new elections which could vote it out of office.

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About Bob Weir 3242 Articles
Bob Weir has over 50 years of investment research and analytical experience in both the equity and fixed-income sectors, and in the commercial real estate industry. He joined eResearch in 2004 and was its President, CEO, and Managing Director, Research Services until December 2018. Prior to joining eResearch, Bob was at Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS).