May begins tour of Britain to sell Brexit deal benefits

Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Northern Ireland and Wales on Tuesday as part of a tour of the United Kingdom designed to rally support for her widely criticised Brexit deal before a vote in parliament.

May secured agreement with the EU on Sunday for a deal that will see Britain leaving the bloc with continued close trade ties, but the odds now look stacked against her getting it approved by a deeply divided British parliament.

Tuesday's tour includes meetings with political leaders from all parties in Northern Ireland - which will have Britain's only land border with the EU and whose future has been a stumbling block in the negotiations.

"Having been told by the EU that we would need to split the UK in two, we are leaving as one United Kingdom," May said in a statement announcing the visit and defending the border arrangements agreed with the EU.

"My deal delivers for every corner of the UK and I will work hard to strengthen the bonds that unite us as we look ahead to our future outside of the EU."

The visit is part one of several fronts May's team are working on to build support ahead of the Dec.11 vote in parliament. Some of her senior ministers have been praising the deal in public, and courting opposition lawmakers in private.

Dec. 11 vote in parliament

"I am looking ahead to December 11... when this House will be faced with the decision as to whether or not it wishes to deliver on the vote of the British people," May told parliament.

May made a blunt appeal to skeptical lawmakers on Monday to back her divorce deal with the EU: It isn't perfect, but it's all there is, and the alternative is a leap into the unknown.

In essence, she urged Parliament: Let's agree and move on, for the sake of the voters.

The British leader crowned nearly two years of painful talks with Brussels that threatened to fall apart many times by sealing Brexit arrangements on Sunday with the 27 EU heads of state.

But this difficult chapter was always going to be the easy part.

May must now navigate the deal through a divided chamber in which she holds the slimmest working majority –– and where lawmakers oppose it on all sides.

The beleaguered leader got a taste of just how tough her job will be as she briefed lawmakers on the outcome of her Brussels visit.

'National self-harm'

Opposition Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn called the withdrawal deal and accompanying political declaration on future relations "an act of national self-harm."

"For the good of the nation, the House has very little choice but to reject this deal," he said.

Yet May might be more disconcerted by the seemingly growing and clearly more vocal chorus of resentment from her own Conservative Party.

Conservative MP Mark Francois told May her deal was "as dead as a Dodo."

Former May loyalist Michael Fallon said the government was asking parliament to "take a huge gamble" and "surrendering our [EU] vote and our veto without any firm commitment to frictionless trade."

More than an hour passed before the first member of her own party stood up to voice her support for the prime minister.

'Get on with it'

The current vote counts conducted by British media are not stacking up in May's favour.

Many expect the deal to fail the first time around and for May to call a second vote on more or less the same set of arrangements before the chamber breaks for the winter holidays.

Britain would be entering unchartered waters –– and quite possibly new elections –– if the deal fails a second time around.

Brexit enters into force on March 29 and May's government is also making "no-deal" preparations just in case.

May argued on Monday that voters were simply exhausted with Brexit and just wanted their leaders to get things resolved once and for all.

"The British people want us to get on with a deal that honours the referendum and allows us to come together again as a country, whichever way we voted," May said.

"This is that deal. A deal that delivers for the British people."

EU foes in her Conservative Party accuse May of ceding too much to Brussels while the Labour opposition argues that it will devastate the British economy.

But both Brussels and May said the deal now on the table is final –– and the best one Britain can get.

"We don't want to give the wrong impression to people, whether they are passionate Remainers or passionate Brexiteers, that there is another agreement that can command the support of 28 member states. There isn't," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said. 

Poorer Britons?

May will now embark on an intensive nationwide campaign to promote the deal with voters across the country and lawmakers in London.

The government was to hold a special briefing on the Brexit deal for Labour MPs –– an unusual but not unprecedented move.

May will also meet over 100 big business leaders to seek their support.

But Corbyn on Monday cited a fresh economic study showing British growth slowing sharply under the plan prepared by May's government.

The independent National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that trade with the EU –– especially in services –– was likely to be more costly after Brexit and have an adverse effect on living standards.

"GDP in the longer term will be around four percent lower than it would have been had the UK stayed in the EU," the report said.

It estimated that the loss equalled around $1,300 per year per person.

Trump: Brexit may hamper US-UK trade

In another potential blow for May, President Donald Trump said her agreement "sounds like a great deal for the EU" that would make it more difficult for the UK to strike a trade deal with the US Brexiteers see a wide-ranging trade deal with the US as one of Britain's main goals after leaving the EU.

Trump said that "right now if you look at the deal they may not be able to trade with us, and that wouldn't be a good thing."

"I don't think that the prime minister meant that and hopefully she'll be able to do something about that," Trump said outside the White House. "But right now as the deal stands, she may not, they may not be able to trade with the US and I don't think they want that at all."

In response to Trump's comments, May's 10 Downing St. office said that under the deal agreed with the EU, "we will have an independent trade policy so that the UK can sign trade deals with countries around the world — including with the US."