[Published: Monday November 26 2018]
 Back Brexit deal or risk more division, says UK PM
LONDON 26 Nov (ANA) - Rejecting the Brexit deal will be risky and lead to "division and uncertainty", Prime Minister Theresa May will say to MPs who oppose her plan.
Her Commons speech comes after the 27 other EU leaders approved the terms of the UK's exit at a summit on Sunday.
Mrs May now has to persuade politicians in the UK Parliament to back the deal.
But cabinet ministers admit she faces an uphill struggle, with Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the DUP and many Tory MPs set to vote against it.
Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party has said it will review its parliamentary pact with the Conservatives - which props up Mrs May's government - if the deal is approved by MPs.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said his party will oppose the deal, calling it "the worst of all worlds".
The prime minister has pledged to put her "heart and soul" into a two-week push to convince MPs to back the terms of the UK's withdrawal from the EU and its future relations with the bloc.
Parliament will decide whether to accept or reject the package next month, in a vote which is likely to be on 12 December.
Mrs May has said it is the "only deal" on the table for the UK, which is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019.
Following a two-hour cabinet meeting earlier, No 10 said in the "unlikely event" that Parliament could not agree on the terms of withdrawal "all necessary action" would be taken to prepare the UK to leave without an agreement.
Mrs May's campaign - which saw her appeal to the public in a "letter to the nation" at the weekend - will later see Labour MPs briefed on the deal while there will be a reception for business leaders at Downing Street.
The Prime Minister will host a reception for over 100 business leaders in Downing Street this evening, including chief executives from manufacturing, retail, food and drink sector, financial services and trade associations — to sell her Brexit deal and take questions.
The Daily Telegraph reported Mrs May would challenge Mr Corbyn to a head-to-head debate. Labour says he would "relish" a debate while Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said he would like to join in and "take them both on".
But former Conservative cabinet minister Damian Green said he was sceptical about the idea, telling the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show it was unlikely to "illuminate" what was a hugely complex subject.
Mrs May's Tory critics include Brexiteer MPs David Davis, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson, as well as Remainers Justine Greening, Dominic Grieve and Jo Johnson
Opponents of the deal on either side of the argument say it fails to deliver on what people voted for during the 2016 referendum or what the public were promised during the campaign and afterwards.
Brexiteers argue that rather than taking back control, the UK is giving the EU too much of a say in key areas and hampering the UK's ability to strike trade deals with other countries.
In particular, they fear the UK could find itself trapped indefinitely in a "backstop" customs arrangement, designed to avoid the need for physical checks of people and goods at the border on the island of Ireland, without the unilateral right to exit.
Many Remain supporters argue the deal is inferior to remaining in the EU because it will not guarantee frictionless trade, while the UK will no longer have a say in setting rules and regulations it will have to abide by.
Those who want to stop Brexit say they want another referendum because, they say, in 2016 people did not know the detail of what Leave meant.
In her Commons statement on Monday, Mrs May will say that backing the deal would bring an end to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
"Our duty as a Parliament over these coming weeks is to examine this deal in detail, to debate it respectfully, to listen to our constituents and decide what is in our national interest," she will say.
She will tell MPs to choose whether they want to back the deal and "move on to building a brighter future of opportunity" or reject it and "go back to square one".
On Sunday, Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission, said anyone in Britain who thought the EU might offer better terms would be "disappointed" because this was the "only" deal.
But opponents of the deal say if it is rejected, EU officials would have to give ground to avoid a no-deal exit.
The DUP's Sammy Wilson said the EU was hoping Mrs May could "bludgeon" the deal through Parliament.
"But given it's been condemned by all sides, that's very unlikely and I think that Mr Juncker may finish up eating his words and having to look for an alternative arrangement," he told the BBC.
And the Leave Means Leave campaign group said Mrs May was seeking to "bribe or isolate" rebel MPs and the UK should not be alarmed by the prospect of leaving without a deal.(ANA)
FA/ANA/26 November 2018-------
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