Theresa May speaks in Parliament in March Photographer: Mark Duffy/U.K. Parliament

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U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will face a challenge from activists in her Conservative Party after enough signed a petition opposing her leadership and Brexit strategy to force an emergency vote on her future.

The beleaguered premier, who survived a confidence vote by members of Parliament in December, is set to face the judgment of local party leaders and other senior grassroots members at a special meeting of their National Convention — described as “the parliament of the voluntary party.”

May was told Monday by Andrew Sharpe, chairman of the convention, that more than 10 percent of chairmen and women of local parties had signed a petition calling for her to go — meeting the threshold for an emergency meeting, the Sun newspaper reported.

Tory activists and lawmakers angry at May’s handling of Brexit have been looking for ways to remove her from office as her premiership has lurched from crisis to crisis. The party’s constitution disallows another challenge by MPs until December — a year after their last attempt — forcing activists to take the issue into their own hands.

‘Not the Right Person’

May’s office played down the significance of the proposed meeting, saying any vote would not be binding and, in any case, it is not clear if it would be passed. There will also have to be a 28-day delay before any such gathering is held.

The petition, backed by more than 70 local party leaders according to organizers, says that “we no longer feel Mrs. May is the right person to continue as prime minister to lead us forward in [Brexit] negotiations.” It goes on to say that the signatories “ask therefore that she considers her position and resigns.”

Read more: U.K. Labour’s Split on Brexit Referendum Threatens Election Push

While May would not be required to quit by the party’s constitution if she lost such a vote, it would make it harder for her to meet her pledge to remain as prime minister until Brexit is delivered.

May has failed three times to get the deal she reached with Brussels for Britain’s divorce from the European Union through Parliament — in part because it is opposed by hardline Brexiteers in her own party — and has faced an increasing backlash from rank-and-file members frustrated at her failure to deliver the divorce they want.

Activists have refused to campaign for the party and some have even said they will vote for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in European Parliament Elections scheduled for May 23 after the premier agreed a delay in leaving the bloc until Oct. 31.

“There’s a lot of anger and despair among activists and chairmen,” petition organizer Dinah Glover said in a video posted on Twitter last week. May “is no longer the solution but is a sadly becoming the block to Brexit,” Glover said.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-30/u-k-s-may-facing-challenge-from-grassroots-tories-over-brexit

The post U.K.’s May Facing Challenge From Grassroots Tories Over Brexit first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Leading Brexit supporters, meanwhile, warned the British government not to delay or water down the divorce from the 28-nation bloc. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Prime Minister Theresa May must deliver the “full British Brexit” that voters were seeking.

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Britain voted 52 percent to 48 percent on June 23, 2016 to quit the EU, and its official exit is slated for March 29, 2019. But the country – and its Conservative government – remain divided about what kind of economic relationship it wants with the EU.

Opponents of Brexit, many waving EU flags, marched through central London to Parliament on Saturday, calling for a referendum on whatever divorce deal is agreed between Britain and the EU.

The crowd numbered in the tens of thousands, with organizers estimating 100,000 people took part. Police did not give an official estimate. A rival pro-Brexit march, demanding that the U.K. not compromise with the EU, drew a far smaller crowd.

The People’s Vote campaign, which organized the march, argues that public opinion is turning against Brexit as the economic costs become clearer.

It came as senior Cabinet ministers, including Liam Fox and David Davis, insisted the U.K. is prepared to walk away from talks without an agreement, BBC News reports.

The protest is part of a “summer of action” by campaign groups designed to increase pressure on May and Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

James McGrory, one of the organizers, said voters were “made all kinds of promises” during the Brexit referendum.

“But two years later, all we’ve got are broken promises, an economy that’s already feeling the strain of Brexit and a government paralyzed by internal divisions,” he said.

Protester Matthew Mann, a Briton who is married to a French woman and lives in The Netherlands, said he was “here to show what a European looks like.”

“I have lived and worked across Europe – it’s home,” he said.

The leaders of both Britain’s Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party oppose holding another Brexit referendum, though many members of both parties disagree. Smaller parties, including the Greens and the centrist Liberal Democrats, support having a new Brexit vote.

“Brexit is not a done deal. Brexit is not inevitable. Brexit can be stopped,” Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable told the crowd.

The government is determined to see Brexit through but May’s Cabinet is split over how to proceed, with Brexit-backing ministers such as Johnson calling for a clean break so that Britain can strike new trade deals around the world. Others, including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, want to keep closely aligned to the bloc, Britain’s biggest trading partner.

In an article for The Sun newspaper, Johnson said May must not deliver a “half-hearted” Brexit, which he likened to a roll of toilet paper – “soft, yielding and seemingly infinitely long.”

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC the EU needs to understand that Britain is willing to walk away from the Brexit talks without agreement if necessary, because “no deal would be better than a bad deal.”

Amid the uncertainty, EU leaders are growing frustrated with what they see as a lack of firm proposals from the U.K about future relations. A paper setting out the U.K. government position on future relations, due to be published this month, has been delayed until July because the Cabinet cannot agree on a united stance.

Many businesses warn that a failure to reach a free-trade agreement between Britain and the EU would be an economic disaster. European plane-maker Airbus warned Friday that it could leave Britain – where it employs about 14,000 people – if the country exits the EU without an agreement on future trading relations.

Katherine Bennett, the company’s senior vice president in the U.K., said “a no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic.”

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-brexit-march-london-today-2018-06-23/

The post Tens of thousands anti-Brexit protesters march in London, demand new vote first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.