Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May will have a tough job convincing her ministers to back the deal. Photo / AP
After months of struggle and delay, feints and setbacks, Brexit negotiators for the United Kingdom and the European Union have finally produced a draft agreement that sets out how Britain will exit the political and economic union it helped create a generation ago.
The withdrawal deal, a technical tome written in euro-legalise and said to exceed 400 pages, will be discussed at an emergency Cabinet meeting called by Prime Minister Theresa May for tomorrow.
May's spokesman said Cabinet ministers have been invited to begin reading the documents ahead of the meeting, where "next steps will be considered" over Britain's exit from the world's biggest and richest free trade zone.
What will happen at the Cabinet meeting is unknown - although May's supporters say the Prime Minister would not be presenting the draft deal if she didn't think she could muscle it through.
It is possible, however, that some Cabinet members, finally faced with the text of May's softer, slower-moving compromise deal, will balk - and resign or seek delay or press for a return to the negotiating table.
Yet if the Cabinet endorses May's proposed withdrawal terms, the next step would be a Brexit summit attended by leaders of the European Union's remaining 27 member states in Brussel later this month, with November 24 and 25 penciled in as possible dates.
Following approval by the European leaders, the treaty would go to the British Parliament, where it would face an uncertain fate.
The Daily Telegraph reported that there could be two Cabinet meetings tomorrow: "One to present the deal and another to approve or reject it."
Whatever happens, this deal is just the first stage of the lengthy process of ratifying the Britain's withdrawal from the EU. To follow are negotiations over Britain's future trade, security and economic relations with Europe - including side-deals about immigration levels.
For the past two years, the greatest debate over Brexit has not been waged between Brussels and London, but within May's fractious Conservative Party, composed of "leavers" and "remainers".
Hardline Brexiteers have pushed for a decisive split from European bureaucrats and courts, from EU rules and regulations, while others, led by May, have sought a softer Brexit, a bundle of compromise that keeps Britain more closely aligned with Europe, to better protect the British economy.
No end to hyperbole on both sides of #Brexit. Location of phytosanitary checks threatens statehood; EU setting lightbulb regulation is slavery; trading outside the EU is calamity. Has anyone actually been to Norway, Switzerland and felt they were visiting vassal states? https://t.co/os82LHRfqk
— Bojan Pancevski (@bopanc) November 13, 2018
Arch Brexiteer Boris Johnson, who quit his job as Foreign Secretary over May's proposals in July, told the BBC that he hoped the Cabinet would "chuck it out".
"It's vassal state stuff. For the first time in a 1000 years, this place, this parliament will not have a say over the laws that govern this country," Johnson said.
Johnson and his allies have said May's Brexit would leave Britain "a rule taker" versus "a rule maker," subject to following Brussels laws for trade, without having much say in how they are written.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, a high profile Brexiteer, told the BBC: "White flags have gone up all over Whitehall. It is a betrayal of the Union."
The leaders of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which helps to prop up May's minority government, sounded sceptical about the deal.
Sammy Wilson, the DUP's Brexit spokesman, told the BBC that they will be reading the agreement closely to ensure that Northern Ireland isn't treated differently from the rest of the UK. "The rumours we are hearing so far would indicate that that's not going to be the case," he said.
EU proposes visa-free travel for Britons after Brexit https://t.co/bvlcyghXVr pic.twitter.com/hQgbUaBF7y
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 13, 2018
Details of the draft withdrawal were not released to the public.
How to avoid the return to a hard border between Northern Ireland, which will remain in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, which is a member of EU, has been one of the toughest issues facing the negotiators.
The Europeans have insisted that in the case that a future free-trade deal is not secured, Northern Ireland should remain in the European customs union. May has said that is not acceptable because it undercuts the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
May has previously said that it would be either her withdrawal deal, or no deal at all, which many think would trigger severe economic disruption. But some of her critics said there were more options to explore.
The leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, tweeted: "If the PM's 'deal' satisfies no-one and can't command a majority, we mustn't fall for her spin that the UK crashing out of EU without a deal is then inevitable - instead we should take the opportunity to get better options back on the table."
Most MPs in the opposition Labour party are expected to vote against the plan if and when it reaches Parliament. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn said, "We will look at the details of what has been agreed when they are available. But from what we know of the shambolic handling of these negotiations, this is unlikely to be a good deal for the country."
Speed & ferocity of onslaught on PM’s Brexit deal by Boris, Rees Mogg, IDS & the DUP shows both their strength & their weakness. They need to kill it before it’s been read by anyone let alone signed by 27 other EU leaders allowing No 10 to frame choice as this deal v no deal.
— Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) November 13, 2018
'It is vassal state stuff'
— ITV News (@itvnews) November 13, 2018
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has slammed the reported Brexit deal agreed between the UK and EU https://t.co/6im3sU1GEP pic.twitter.com/VnLUfo1CuK
One former Brexiteer Cabinet minister tells me: "We are all toast aren't we. This is almost like the Titanic - she can't steer it and she is not going to let anyone else steer it. Normally rats leave a sinking ship - this lot have stayed on it." #Brexit
— Christopher Hope📝 (@christopherhope) November 13, 2018
REMINDER:
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 13, 2018
Nobody actually knows what will happen after we Brexit.
Everyone’s guessing, with many taking the most extreme positive/negative positions of their Leave/Remain tribe.
Impartial analysis or commentary is taboo.
All that matters is screaming ‘I’M RIGHT!’ the loudest.
Theresa May’s Brexit agreement is the worst deal in history.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 13, 2018
Theresa May's Brexit deal could bring down the government says Iain Duncan Smithhttps://t.co/gERWvXth9h pic.twitter.com/WmUMBogn7n
— Mirror Politics (@MirrorPolitics) November 13, 2018
Iran has appointed Brigadier General Majid Khadami as its new intelligence chief.