BRUSSELS: The British parliament’s vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal will determine the future of the country, the chief EU Brexit negotiator said on Thursday, insisting that the deal was the only route to secure an orderly withdrawal from the EU.
“If there is no withdrawal treaty, there is no transition, no basis of confidence that we need with the British regarding the future relationship,” Michel Barnier told representatives from cities and regions in the European Union.
Barnier told the gathering of the European Committee of the Regions that it was key now that the withdrawal treaty agreed between Brussels and London be ratified.
“Now is now the moment for everyone to bear their responsibilities. You know the British parliament will give its verdict on this text and on the future relationship in the coming days. It is a vote in which the future of their country is at stake.”
The British parliament is due to vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal next Tuesday, with the odds looking stacked against May’s government winning that vote.
Many of May’s Conservatives are particularly skeptical about the fallback arrangement, or “backstop,” to guarantee that there is no return to a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, seen as essential to preserving peace.
Supporters of a clean break with the EU say the backstop could leave Britain forced to accept EU regulations indefinitely, or Northern Ireland treated differently from the rest of Britain.
“This backstop,” said Barnier. “We will do everything we can to avoid using it.”
Barnier repeated his view that the Brexit deal that May wants the British parliament to back is the best Britain will get to arrange its orderly withdrawal from the EU.
“The agreement that is on the table — the withdrawal agreement and the agreement on the future relationship — are, in our view, the only and best possible to organize an orderly withdrawal,” he said.
EU’s Barnier says UK future at stake in Brexit vote
EU’s Barnier says UK future at stake in Brexit vote
- The British parliament’s vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal will determine the future of the country
- Barnier told the gathering of the European Committee of the Regions that it was key now that the withdrawal treaty agreed between Brussels and London be ratified
Death toll in Karachi shopping plaza fire rises to 10 as search continues for dozens missing
- Mayor Murtaza Wahab said on Monday that four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10
- The fire broke out late Saturday. According to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, families reported about 60 people missing
KARACHI: The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, rose to at least 10 after rescuers recovered four more bodies from the badly damaged building during an overnight search for dozens of people reported missing, officials said Monday.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory Gul Plaza late Sunday nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building to rescue those trapped there. Mayor Murtaza Wahab said four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10.
Local media reported that at least 14 people died in the blaze.
The fire broke out late Saturday and spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, the city’s chief rescue officer.
On Sunday night, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said families had reported about 60 people missing, prompting authorities to launch the search operation. Relatives of the missing gathered outside the heavily damaged building Monday, many in tears, witnesses said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping mall in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garments factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.
