NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Brexit: May seeks TV debate as she campaigns to save her deal

By Gordon Rayner, Christopher Hope
Daily Telegraph UK·
26 Nov, 2018 01:44 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

British Prime Minister Theresa May walks past the EU flag at the conclusion of an EU summit in Brussels. Photo / AP

British Prime Minister Theresa May walks past the EU flag at the conclusion of an EU summit in Brussels. Photo / AP

British Prime Minister Theresa May will challenge Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to a televised debate on her Brexit deal as the showpiece of an election-style campaign to seek the country's backing.

The Prime Minister intends to hold the parliamentary vote on the deal on December 12, and will tonight update the Cabinet on plans for a two-week media blitz timed to exert maximum pressure on MPs to fall into line.

Today she reached another significant milestone by agreeing the deal with EU leaders, but the far bigger challenge will be to get Parliament's support for the agreement.

More than 90 Conservative MPs, as well as the Northern Irish DUP and Labour, have said they will vote against it.

May's primary tactic will be to heighten the fears of MPs in Leave-voting constituencies that they will lose their seats if they thwart Brexit by voting against the deal.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She will also go over their heads by appealing directly to voters, saying: "In Parliament and beyond it, I will make the case for this deal with all my heart, and I look forward to that campaign."

Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, issued a stark warning to rebel Tory MPs that if they rejected the deal the Government could collapse.

Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, admitted that her party had held talks with Cabinet ministers behind May's back about negotiating a Norway-style trade deal with the EU as a "plan B" if the current deal was voted down.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

May will travel to every part of the UK to spread her message, starting tomorrow, while in the capital MPs will debate the deal for more than a week before the crucial vote.

On each stop of her journey, May will set out what she says are the key advantages of the deal.

Her themes include the ability of the UK to set its own migration policy, the "Brexit boost" to the economy after Britain stops paying billions a year to the EU and the protection of jobs and supply chains May says the agreement guarantees.

What's in the #Brexit agreement? We've broken down the key terms pic.twitter.com/kilXNEq0d9

— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) November 26, 2018

Insiders say that in the final days before the "meaningful vote" in Parliament next month, May favours holding a prime-time Sunday night televised debate with Corbyn, who called the deal a "miserable failure of negotiation".

Discover more

World

May: 'It is best possible deal. It is the only deal'

25 Nov 07:38 PM
World

Ukraine says Russia fires on its ships

25 Nov 08:22 PM
New Zealand|politics

Consultation to begin on NZ's post-Brexit FTA

25 Nov 08:33 PM
World

Countdown to super fast Mars landing

25 Nov 09:55 PM

If the Labour leader declines to agree to a debate, May will hold a Question Time-style session with a television audience hosted by David Dimbleby.

Downing Street plans for her to make a speech on December 11, the day before the vote, with the vote itself taking place the day before the next EU leaders' summit.

The timing of the vote will enable May to return to Brussels the day after her parliamentary vote and call on EU leaders to reiterate a message set out yesterday: that if the deal is rejected, a no-deal Brexit is the only alternative.

May said: "This is the deal that's on the table, it's the best possible deal, it's the only possible deal."

Excl: Cabinet ministers plan for Britain to join EFTA with 76 Labour rebels’ help - after Brexit deal, general election and second referendum all fail;https://t.co/ArSD8zzHjh

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 25, 2018

But Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, insisted the deal must be changed, saying all references to the so-called Northern Irish "backstop" must be removed, and Foster, on whose party's votes May depends for her majority, said: "I believe we must use the time now to look for a third way, a better way."

The Prime Minister is well aware that some MPs will hope that by voting against her deal, they can send her back to Brussels the next day to seek better terms.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, said that MPs who thought they could get a better deal by rejecting the one on offer would be "disappointed".

He told the BBC: "I am never changing my mind...if the House [of Commons] would say no, we will have no deal."

Speaking in the Commons tomorrow, May will say it is MPs' "duty" to "listen to our constituents" and deliver the Brexit the country voted for.

It's not going exactly to plan, and is a bit behind schedule, but rather a lot of the leaked grid does appear to be, the govt's actual grid - the one that 'wasn't the plan'....currently expect Brexit vote to be Weds 12th December https://t.co/6qaUR1FkDC

— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) November 25, 2018

She will say that rejecting the deal will take Britain "back to square one", adding: "Before Christmas, MPs will vote on this deal. It will be one of the most significant votes that Parliament has held for many years. On it will depend whether we move forward together into a brighter future or open the door to yet more division and uncertainty."

May's campaign will start with a meeting of her Cabinet when she will urge them to help her win the argument.

She will then head to the House of Commons to make a statement about the EU's agreement to the deal before she makes the regional visits.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

One senior aide admitted it will appear like a "mini-election campaign" adding: "The Cabinet and the Prime Minister will be taking the message around all four corners of the United Kingdom over the period of the campaign."

The Government is expected to publish Treasury forecasts on Thursday about the economic impact of a deal against leaving the EU without a deal.

Theresa May's Brexit deal could leave UK £100bn poorer in first decade outside EU https://t.co/uHUYojrJfB pic.twitter.com/HjfAEKcPDm

— The Independent (@Independent) November 26, 2018

On Friday, May is expected to be questioned by senior Tory MPs on the House of Commons liaison committee before heading to Argentina for three days for the G20 meeting of world leaders.

Aides to both May and Corbyn left open the door to debating the deal live on television.

A Number 10 official said "nothing has been decided" on whether to take part in a debate. An aide to Corbyn said his office would consider the offer of a debate if it were made.

The Labour leader said the party would oppose the package in Parliament and work with MPs from other parties to block a no-deal Brexit.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Corbyn said: "This is a bad deal for the country. It is the result of a miserable failure of negotiation that leaves us with the worst of all worlds.

"It gives us less say over our future, and puts jobs and living standards at risk."

Will today’s momentous Brexit history end up in the dustbin? And if it does, what then? https://t.co/nOCqCni9n9

— Robert Peston (@Peston) November 25, 2018

timeline of the Brexit talks pic.twitter.com/VEARpJfF5F

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 26, 2018
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

Analysis

Iran’s attack on Qatar is life-or-death brinkmanship by Khamenei

23 Jun 08:45 PM
live
World

Trump dismisses Iran strikes on US base as 'very weak', Auckland flight to Doha diverted

23 Jun 08:21 PM
Herald NOW

US strikes on Iran shunning diplomacy, says former Prime Minister Helen Clark

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Iran’s attack on Qatar is life-or-death brinkmanship by Khamenei

Iran’s attack on Qatar is life-or-death brinkmanship by Khamenei

23 Jun 08:45 PM

Analysis: The signs are that this was probably not an all-out attack by Iran.

Trump dismisses Iran strikes on US base as 'very weak', Auckland flight to Doha diverted
live

Trump dismisses Iran strikes on US base as 'very weak', Auckland flight to Doha diverted

23 Jun 08:21 PM
US strikes on Iran shunning diplomacy, says former Prime Minister Helen Clark

US strikes on Iran shunning diplomacy, says former Prime Minister Helen Clark

New York to build nuclear plant to meet clean energy demand

New York to build nuclear plant to meet clean energy demand

23 Jun 08:09 PM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP