Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1071614
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 JANUARY 2019 NEWS ANALYSIS KURT SANSONE THERESA May's Brexit deal is as good as dead after British MPs voted against it yesterday, in what was billed as a historic day for the UK. Delaying the vote by a month after May realised she had no support for the deal, did little to convince MPs that agreement was satisfactory. The British Prime Minister failed to convince many within her own Con- servative Party to back the agreement that laid out the terms of the divorce from the EU. Rejection of the deal does not stop the UK from exiting the EU at 11pm (UK time) on 29 March, 2019. The day and time of exit are sanc- tioned by law and MPs will have to pass amendments to postpone it. It remains unclear whether this will happen but the EU has signalled that it is willing to ac- cept extending the Brexit deadline. The European Court of Justice has also ruled that Britain can unilaterally stop Brexit at any stage before it formally ex- its without the need to consult or gain approval from the other 27 EU member states. Unless an alternative is found, the de- cision taken yesterday by MPs means that Britain will exit the EU with no deal to smooth the transition while both sides discuss a future relationship. May's deal ensured that no major changes would occur to the relationship between the UK and the EU between March 2019 and December 2020. This would have given people, businesses and the economy enough time to adjust while both sides discuss and agree on future relations. The deal also laid down that the UK will have to pay £39 billion to break the partnership with the EU, which mostly reflects the commitments undertaken by Britain. The agreement also defined what will happen to UK citizens living elsewhere in the EU, and equally, what will happen to EU citizens living in the UK. But crucially, the deal also made provi- sions to avoid the return of a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This included a backstop solution that would keep Northern Ireland in a customs union with the EU to avoid a hard border, while the rest of the UK would opt out, in the absence of an agreement being reached on the future relationship. It was this backstop solution that caused problems. It was rejected out- right by May's junior coalition partner, the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, who feared the backstop would hive off Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. It was objected to by many Conservative MPs as well, describing it as a threat to British sovereignty. The vote against May's deal leaves Britain in an uncertain situation. Leaving without a deal will mean that on 30 March, the UK will automatically be considered by the EU as a third coun- try. The divorce will be abrupt and EU laws will immediately stop applying to the UK. Customs checks and trade tariffs will be introduced and other disruptions are possible. The UK government has recently started preparing for such an eventuality. Trade relations will be governed by World Trade Organisation rules until a new future relationship is agreed. While some Brexiteers would be fine with this, the sudden rupture could cre- ate uncertainty. It will also mean that a hard border would have to be erected between Northern Ireland and Ireland. How this will happen soon is unclear. What happens depends on May's next steps but it is clear that time is running out as Britain looks set to crash out of the EU at the end of March. Brexit: The divorce deal that was CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In recent weeks various attempts have been made by a disjointed number of party officials to force Delia out, based on allegations made on the social media and fueled by reports in the English language media. Adding to this are allegations by his wife in a court document she filed to prevent her husband from seeing their five children over the Christmas holidays. The court overturned her request and Delia today has access rights of not less than three times a week. Last week, MaltaToday reported that efforts were underway to get MPs to sign a declaration stating that they no longer support Delia. Sources who spoke with Malta- Today said that Nationalist MPs Beppe Fenech Adami and Clau- dette Buttigieg backed the initia- tive, with Sammut being the one facing the MPs. Sources who had previously spo- ken to MaltaToday said that while the leader may not have the sup- port of a majority of the party's MPs, he was still largely backed by the party's members. Despite opposition to his lead- ership, the PN leader has so far insisted he would not resign. Speaking during TVM radio cur- rent affairs programme 'Ghandi xi Nghid' – the latest in a series of interviews with the local media over the last two weeks – Delia categorically denied allegations of domestic violence levelled against him by his estranged wife. He also dismissed claims he still owed the tax man €64,000, insist- ing the claim had been a lie. Adrian Delia is still largely backed by PN party members DAVID HUDSON THE government entity responsible for the financing of the House of the Representatives building has blamed the parliamentary adminis- tration for damages incurred to the Renzo Piano structure. The Grand Harbour Regenera- tion Corporation (GHRC)'s chief executive officer Gino Cauchi told MaltaToday that it was the House of Representatives' responsibility to maintain the building. The Speaker of the House, Anglu Farrugia, on Monday said the build- ing had suffered rust, mould and leakages, and blamed the GHRC for other structural issues that were not due to lack of maintenance. Following a press conference that highlighted severe damages to the new parliament building, the GHRC has insisted that the building – whose construction it had stewarded – was no longer its responsibility. "Since the inauguration of the new Parliament Building in 2015, the re- sponsibility to oversee that regular maintenance to the building and on all the systems are carried out, was handed over to the House of Repre- sentatives," Gino Cauchi said. "The damage is not down to maintenance," Cauchi said, but he stopped short of providing an answer for the in- dividual problems identified by An- glu Farrugia. Cauchi said the GHRC was deny- ing responsibility for the rust, mould and leakages plagu- ing the Piano-designed building in Valletta. Farrugia also said that court cases had been initiated against the re- sponsible contractors, but did not elaborate on the issue. The GHRC paid the renowned architect €6.6 million for his work on the project. The €80 million project, which includes the former Royal Opera House building and City Gate entrance, was financed through government land leases at the Valletta cruise terminal and Malta airport. Damage to Malta parliament building not GHRC responsibility, says Gino Cauchi