+++ Britain decides on Brexit — live updates +++

March 12, 2019

British Parliament is preparing to vote on a draft Brexit deal secured by Prime Minister Theresa May and EU negotiators. But opposition lawmakers, including Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, have vowed to oppose it despite the EU’s latest clarifications.

What you need to know:

British Prime Minister Theresa May has secured “legally binding” guarantees to the Irish backstop from the EU in a bid to convince lawmakers to support her draft Brexit deal.
Remainers in the Conservative Party have said their support for the deal hinges on the legal opinion of Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.
The leader of the DUP, the North Irish junior coalition party, has said it needs time to decide whether to vote in favor of the deal and may push for the vote to be delayed.

Read more: Brexit: Is the end nigh?

All updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC)

11:29 — Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that the latest documents put forward by EU negotiators and May add an “additional layer of interpretation, clarification and elaboration to the UK.”

“It does not reopen the Withdrawal Agreement, or undermine the backstop of its application,” Varadkar said in a tweet.” It says that we will work together, in good faith in pursuit of a future relationship that ensures that the objectives of the Protocol, particularly the need to avoid a hard border, are met.”

Read more: Brexit: Why is the Irish backstop so controversial?

11:11 — Former Brexit minister David Davis said Attorney General Geoffrey Cox’s legal opinion on the EU’s latest “legal” changes to a draft Brexit deal will be crucial for the vote to pass. “It is critical that he confirms we can escape this backstop,” Davis said in a tweet.

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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

June 2016: ‘The will of the British people’

After a shrill referendum campaign, nearly 52 percent of British voters opted to leave the EU on June 24. Polls had shown a close race before the vote with a slight lead for those favoring remaining in the EU. Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay, acknowledged the “will of the British people” and resigned the following morning.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

July 2016: ‘Brexit means Brexit’

Former Home Secretary Theresa May replaced David Cameron as prime minister on July 11 and promised the country that “Brexit means Brexit.” May had quietly supported the Remain campaign before the referendum. She did not initially say when her government would trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty to start the two-year talks leading to Britain’s formal exit.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

March 2017: ‘We already miss you’

May eventually signed a diplomatic letter over six months later on March 29, 2017 to trigger Article 50. Hours later, Britain’s ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, handed the note to European Council President Donald Tusk. Britain’s exit was officially set for March 29, 2019. Tusk ended his brief statement on the decision with: “We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.”

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

June 2017: And they’re off!

British Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, kicked off talks in Brussels on June 19. The first round ended with Britain reluctantly agreeing to follow the EU’s timeline for the rest of the negotiations. The timeline split talks into two phases. The first would settle the terms of Britain’s exit, and the second the terms of the EU-UK relationship post-Brexit.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

July-October 2017: Money, rights and Ireland

The second round of talks in mid-July began with an unflattering photo of a seemingly unprepared British team. It and subsequent rounds ended with little progress on three phase one issues: How much Britain still needed to pay into the EU budget after it leaves, the post-Brexit rights of EU and British citizens and whether Britain could keep an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

November 2017: May pays out?

Progress appeared to have been made after round six in early November with Britain reportedly agreeing to pay up to £50 billion (€57 billion/$68 billion) for the “divorce bill.” May had earlier said she was only willing to pay €20 billion, while the EU had calculated some €60 billion euros. Reports of Britain’s concession sparked outrage among pro-Brexit politicians and media outlets.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

December 2017: Go-ahead for phase 2

Leaders of the remaining 27 EU members formally agreed that “sufficient progress” had been made to move on to phase two issues: the post-Brexit transition period and the future UK-EU trading relationship. While Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her delight at the decision, European Council President Tusk ominously warned that the second stage of talks would be “dramatically difficult.”

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

July 2018: Johnson, Davis resign

British ministers appeared to back a Brexit plan at May’s Chequers residence on July 6. The proposal would have kept Britain in a “combined customs territory” with the EU and signed up to a “common rulebook” on all goods. That went too far for British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis, who resigned a few days later. May replaced them with Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

September 2018: No cherries for Britain

May’s Chequers proposal did not go down well with EU leaders, who told her at a summit in Salzburg in late September that it was unacceptable. EU Council President Tusk trolled May on Instagram, captioning a picture of himself and May looking at cakes with the line: “A piece of cake perhaps? Sorry, no cherries.” The gag echoed previous EU accusations of British cherry-picking.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

November 2018: Breakthrough in Brussels

EU leaders endorsed a 585-page draft divorce deal and political declaration on post-Brexit ties in late November. The draft had been widely condemned by pro- and anti-Brexit lawmakers in the British Parliament only weeks earlier. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned along with several other ministers, and dozens of Conservative Party members tried to trigger a no-confidence vote in May.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

December 2018: May survives rebellion

In the face of unrelenting opposition, May postponed a parliamentary vote on the deal on December 10. The next day, she met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to seek reassurances that would, she hoped, be enough to convince skeptical lawmakers to back the deal. But while she was away, hard-line Conservative lawmakers triggered a no-confidence vote. May won the vote a day later.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe

January 2019: Agreement voted down

The UK Parliament voted 432 to 202 against May’s Brexit deal on January 16. In response to the result, European Council President Donald Tusk suggested the only solution was for the UK to stay in the EU. Meanwhile, Britain’s Labour Party called for a no-confidence vote in the prime minister, her second leadership challenge in as many months.

Author: Alexander Pearson