The UK Independence Party (UKIP) on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Theresa May for her comments that London and Brussels could possibly extend the Brexit transition period beyond December 2020.
(Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2018) - The UK Independence Party (UKIP) on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Theresa May for her comments that London and Brussels could possibly extend the Brexit transition period beyond December 2020.
Earlier in the day, May said that she did not rule out the possibility of the Brexit transition period being extended " for a matter of months" after it was reported that the EU chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, allegedly proposed the extension in exchange for May agreeing to a two-stage backstop. Barnier's new offer reportedly envisaged a separate backstop plan for Northern Ireland, which would be part of the EU customs union, and a UK-wide customs solution.
"Mrs May's Brexit betrayal slowly slithers into view. This is not due diligence, this is not a commitment to sort things out, this is a play to normalise 'transition' indefinitely until a time when the establishment can call the whole thing off," the UKIP cited its chief Gerard Batten as saying.
According to the UKIP, the extension would "lock the UK into the EU status-quo or worse for a full three years after exit day with no sight of an end to transition."
Later in the day, Batten told Sputnik in an interview that the whole issue of the Irish border was "a non-problem" created only to keep the United Kingdom in the European Union.
"They [Brussels] suggest that Northern Ireland can stay in the customs union but Britain will be outside it ... Then critics in Britain say 'Well, you can't do that, as it means splitting up the UK.' And then, of course, they come back and claim the solution is that Britain remain in the customs union as well, so we don't really leave," Batten said.
Speaking about the chances that May's way of handling Brexit could potentially lead to the Tories ousting her, Batten said that the Conservatives did not have the courage to do so, fearing that the Labor Party could take advantage of internal disagreements on Brexit within the Conservative party.
"The Tory party is always more concerned about the Tory party than it is about the country or anything else. I also fear that if they tried to get rid of her and a general election ensued, they'd be fearful of losing to [Labor Party leader Jeremy] Corbyn. So I don't think the Tory party will actually get rid of her," the UKIP leader concluded.
Last week, Barnier and his UK counterpart Dominic Raab met in a bid to overcome the major stumbling block in the negotiations � the Irish border customs arrangements � ahead of the European Council summit. The meeting, however, did not yield significant results, with Barnier saying after the talks that "some issues were still open."
The United Kingdom will leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. The transition period is set to end in December 2020.
