Britain and European Union agree Brexit deal
The British prime minister's office announced the tentative agreement Tuesday without offering further details about the deal hashed out with European Union negotiators in Brussels.
The UK government confirmed reports that May's most senior ministers would read the details of the draft agreement on Tuesday evening before a special Cabinet meeting at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The UK Parliament will also hold a final vote to ratify the deal. The agreement would then be sent for ratification to both the Westminster Parliament and the European Parliament.
Officials have said for weeks that agreement on divorce terms and a framework for future U.K. -EU relations was 95 percent complete, and for several days negotiators have been meeting late into the night in Brussels in a bid to close the remaining gaps.
The broadcaster said the deal involved one overall backstop in the form of a UK-wide customs arrangement, but with deeper provisions for Northern Ireland on customs and regulations.
A sticking point in talks has been Britain's insistence that any such customs arrangement must be temporary.
The clock is running down on a deadline of tomorrow for triggering a crunch summit that could approve a divorce package this month.
PM May has struggled to untangle the membership without damaging trade or upsetting the lawmakers.
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson - who had not seen the text of the deal - signalled his intention to vote against it.
Lidington, who voted to stay in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, declined to say whether the proposed deal would make the United Kingdom wealthier or poorer, saying that the people had chose to leave the EU. You've got the United Kingdom remaining in the customs union, -so we can't do trade deals or take control of our laws.
"While there are still numerous hurdles ahead, sign-off on Wednesday could be a hugely important step toward getting a deal over the line before Christmas and avoiding a disastrous no deal scenario", said Craig Erlam, market analyst at OANDA.
The speculation of a deal has sparked fierce criticism from Brexit-supporting MPs. The reason they can't look us in the eye, it's because they know this will leave us worse-off and with less control.
European Union officials have consistently said that striking a deal is not like picking from an "a la carte menu" for May and her team and the United Kingdom either needs to accept all the unified conditions that come with European Union, such as allowing the freedom of movement of people if they want favourable trading conditions at a fee (like Norway).
Meanwhile, official figures suggest Brexit is already having an impact on the British workforce.
He said: "For the first time in a thousand years, this place, this parliament, will not have a say over the laws that govern this country". That's the largest annual fall since comparable records began in 1997.
The Pound turned down a +1% decline suffered at the start of the week over recent hours as the tone of reports surrounding Brexit negotiatons improves.