Islam Times - Analyst believes UK will likely endorse soft Brexit

Islam Times - A political analyst from London believes that a soft withdrawal from the European Union, or a reversal of the decision to leave, would be the eventual outcome of the three-year Brexit process for the United Kingdom.

Rodney Shakespeare said that the complicated political situation surrounding Brexit and the public demand for not leaving the EU had made a soft Brexit inevitable.

“British politics is in flux. The situation with Europe is most uncertain and in any case the resolution of the issue requires at the least a move to soft Brexit and underneath there is an increasing movement, an increasing swell for remaining in the EU,” said Shakespeare.

The expert added that a failure in the British parliament to pass the government’s Brexit deal with the EU meant that London had to either accept a soft Brexit, which could be agreed between the government and the opposition Labour Party, or it should revoke an EU mechanism to leave just ahead of a deadline for leaving the bloc on Friday.

“The businesses are absolutely crying out the certainty that, in due course, we will eventually happen to achieve a soft Brexit or even a remain in the EU, and it’s becoming an increasing possibility,” he said.

Shakespeare said, however, that fierce pro-Brexit lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party were trying to prevent a soft Brexit as they favor a disorderly exit on April 12.

“But everything now is being held up by the selfish, bigoted, obdurate behavior of a large section of the Conservative Party and they are behaving as though they are in charge of the British Empire which they are not,” said Shakespeare.

He stressed on the fact that some six million people had signed a petition for remaining in the EU while there was a demonstration of one million people in London in late March demanding the government and the parliament to scrap the entire Brexit process.

“The subject of Brexit is causing people to have little or no sleep. They are worried, they are stressed and their representatives, members of the parliament, seem to be leading the country to disaster,” said the analyst.

Just two days before the new deadline for leaving the EU, the British government is struggling to secure a fresh extension to its negotiation period with the bloc. EU leaders are expected to grant the delay in a summit on Wednesday although reports suggest the bloc is in favor of a long extension to Britain’s membership accompanied with some tough conditions rather than allowing it stay for a further two-month period.