'It's Kicking Can Down the Road' - UKIP MEP on Extending Article 50

With negotiations with Brussels regarding the Irish backstop set to resume this week, British Prime Minister Theresa May is remaining stubbornly optimistic about getting her Brexit deal through parliament. But is this just a pipe dream and would it be better for the UK to simply depart the EU sooner and trade under WTO rules?

Sputnik spoke to UKIP MEP Margot Parker about a possible backstop amendment and the extension of Article 50.

Sputnik: Will Theresa May be able to convince the EU to amend the backstop?

Margot Parker: I think as it probably presently stands, it will be rejected, but who knows what cosmetics the EU will probably use, the wording, the detail, the legality, in order to probably facilitate something without actually showing that they've changed it in any measurable detail.

I can't imagine; if you get right close to the line, it wouldn't be sensible for the sake of Ireland, the UK and of course the EU, to be able to do something which allows the UK to leave with a date, so that those people that are extremely anxious about being caught within the curtilage of the EU in perpetuity.

Something has to happen. However things are worded, that allows those people that are anxious to move forward so that there is a deal when we leave, which is what everybody has tried to achieve I believe.

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I feel that the prime minister has not been gifted in her ability to create a deal, and I think her civil servants quite clearly have not been the most gifted necessarily in being able to facilitate it either, so they should really have had business negotiators in there.

I don't think they allowed other expertise into the negotiations, and that has definitely worked against the UK, and this British prime minister.

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Sputnik: Would reverting to WTO terms be the ideal solution to the ongoing political deadlock?

Margot Parker: WTO rules would be… there would be certainty in that, companies can see where we would be at a specific time, so most certainly it would be better.

To extend Article 50 is simply buying extra time for what exactly? One has to ask for what? It's kicking the can down the road undoubtedly, and I have no idea why they would want to do that.

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For the sake of British business, for the sake of getting on and dealing with the rest of the world business wise; the UK would be better off with those conditions, even though it might be a little bit bumpy in the beginning, I believe ultimately that you would be able to increase your prosperity by doing trade deals elsewhere.

The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.