The British Parliament will be voting on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan today (Tuesday, 15 January). Rumors and speculation are swirling in the run-up to this vote.
Last weekend, there was suddenly more news - if Parliament does not agree to the plan, the entire Brexit could be brought into question. This is the warning given by Prime Minister May.
May repeated this message yesterday during a visit to a porcelain factory. She warned that a veto vote would 'cripple' Parliament. This will, however, not result in a hard Brexit. The Brits will remain part of the EU. The British Prime Minister threatened to withdraw Article 50 if Parliament does not agree to the plan.
Earlier the European Court determined that this possibility exists. It does not require the approval of the 27 other member countries for this to happen. In this scenario, the UK will, therefore, remain a member of the EU.
Hard Brexit supporters do not seem to be put off by this threat. If Members of Parliament vote against the plan, the British House of Commons wants the Prime Minister to come up with a new proposal within three days.
In Brussels, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, Presidents of the European Commission and European Council, respectively, wrote that there is no catch to this emergency provision. Both men hope that this emergency clause will not be necessary.
They have also denied that there is a secret agreement to allow Northern Ireland to remain part of the EU. With this, the EU hopes to bring some calm to the situation.
It, therefore, seems that all options are still open. In any case, much depends on the vote in Parliament today.
For more information, go to www.bbc.com