May’s Plan B is Plan A in disguise

“Plan B is Plan A,” MP Sarah Wollaston tweeted after Theresa May revealed her new Brexit plans on January 21, 2019. The plan was very similar to her original plan, with the most notable announcement being that after Brexit, EU citizens currently living in the UK will no longer need to pay the application fee for residency.

The largest unresolved issue concerns implementing a time limit on the backstop between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney promptly shut down Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz’s idea to limit the backstop to five years, arguing that it would undermine the backstop’s purpose of creating a safety net for border relations in Ireland. However, a faction of the UK’s Conservative party continues to call for changes to the backstop plan, despite the EU’s firm stance.

Next Tuesday, Parliament will vote on a series of amendments, from eliminating a no-deal exit as a potential option to granting themselves more power over the Brexit process. Another amendment that may eventually arise is a second referendum to allow voters to reverse Brexit and remain in the EU.

As March 29 approaches and legislators rush to find a solution, it is more and more likely that they will accept May’s deal in favor of a no-deal exit — even if Plan B is essentially Plan A.

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Kennedy Salamat of Montgomery Blair High School