Brexit: Trade unions urge May to delay Brexit

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON

The leaders of Britain’s two largest trade unions on Thursday called on Prime Minister Theresa May to delay Brexit to prevent a no-deal exit from the EU.

In separate meetings with May, Len McCluskey of Unite and Dave Prentis of Unison discussed the severity of leaving the EU without a deal and the need for an extension of Article 50, the section of the EU treaty under which the U.K. is leaving.

“I have also made it clear that, in my opinion, if she is serious about negotiating and seeing if there’s a deal that has support in parliament, then there has to be an extension of Article 50,” McCluskey said after the meeting.

“I can’t conceive any British prime minister taking us out of Europe with a no deal. It would be catastrophic. She’s been told that from all parts,” he added.

The head of Unite questioned May’s sincerity, asking if the meeting was a “PR stunt for the media” or if her attempt at reaching out to the unions was genuine in trying to break the Brexit impasse.

After the meeting, McCluskey said that he understood why opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn did not hold talks with May.

Prentis said that a delayed Brexit is needed to prevent a no deal from occurring and to bring the U.K. back from the edge.

“A no-deal Brexit must be avoided at all costs and the prime minister needs to rule this out immediately. Crashing out of Europe would be catastrophic for the economy, public services, and everyone who works in our schools, hospitals, town halls and police forces,” he said.

“However people voted in June 2016, no-one … was choosing to be worse off. The country is desperate for politicians to find a solution to the deadlock paralyzing the country,” he added, referring to the 2106 Brexit referendum.

After suffering a historic defeat in of her Brexit deal, May is set to present her Plan B on Jan. 29 before MPs have another vote.

The U.K. is set to leave the EU on March 29.