TRUMP WARNS:  ‘If you look at the Brexit  deal,  as it stands sight now, UK may not be able to trade with  US’

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Theresa May’s hopes of getting her Brexit deal through the Commons have been dealt a major blow after US President Donald Trump said it may harm trade with America.
 
Mr Trump said that he wanted the Prime Minister to “do something” about the agreement to ensure the UK can trade with the US more freely.
 
Referring to the Brexit agreement, Mr Trump told reporters: “Sounds like a great deal for the EU.
 
“I think we have to take a look at, seriously, whether or not the UK is allowed to trade.
 
“Because, you know, 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 they meant that.
 
“I don’t think that the Prime Minister meant that. And, hopefully, she’ll be able to do something about that.
 
“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.
 
“That would be a very big negative for the deal.”
 
Donald Trump and Theresa May
Mr Trump says he wants the Prime Minister to look at her deal again (Jack Taylor/PA)
In response to Mr Trump’s comments, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The political declaration we have agreed with the EU is very clear we will have an independent trade policy so that the UK can sign trade deals with countries around the world – including with the US.
 
“We have already been laying the groundwork for an ambitious agreement with the US through our joint working groups, which have met five times so far.
 
“The US Trade Representative also issued a call for views from the public on a future UK-US free trade agreement earlier this month.”
 
Mr Trump’s intervention came as it was confirmed that MPs will vote on Mrs May’s Brexit deal on December 11 after five days of debate.
 
The timing gives Mrs May a fortnight to avert what threatens to be a humiliating defeat at the hands of scores of Conservative rebels.
 
The PM received a largely hostile reception as she told the House of Commons her Brexit deal “delivers for the British people”, and warned that rejecting it would put the UK on the path to division and uncertainty.
 
She was loudly barracked by MPs as she insisted that no better deal was available than the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on future relations endorsed by EU leaders in Brussels on Sunday.
 
Former minister Mark Francois branded her deal a “surrender” and said opposition from Eurosceptic Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party meant it was already “dead as a dodo”.
 
Ex-defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon described the deal as “a huge gamble” which involved the UK paying a £39 billion divorce bill and giving up its votes and veto without any firm commitment on future trade relations.
 
But Mrs May said: “I believe our national interest is clear.
 
“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.
 
“This is that deal. A deal that delivers for the British people.”
 
In a sign that she aims to go over fractious MPs’ heads and appeal directly to voters for their backing, Mrs May said parliamentarians had a “duty” to listen to their constituents before taking their decision in the national interest.
 
But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Commons would have “very little choice” but to reject Mrs May’s “botched” deal, which he described as “bad for this country”.
 
With 90 or more Conservative MPs indicating they could rebel in the “meaningful vote”, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay admitted Mrs May faces a “challenging” division.
 
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that there would be no more negotiation if MPs vote down the agreement, telling the BBC: “This is the best deal for Britain … and this is the only deal possible, so if the House says no, we would have no deal.”
 
Addressing the Commons the day after returning from Brussels, Mrs May said: “I can say to the House with absolute certainty that there is not a better deal available.
 
“Our duty as a Parliament over these coming weeks is to examine this deal in detail, to debate it respectfully, to listen to our constituents and decide what is in our national interest.”
 
Mrs May said MPs faced a choice: “We can back this deal, deliver on the vote of the referendum and move on to building a brighter future of opportunity and prosperity for all our people. Or this House can choose to reject this deal and go back to square one.
 
“Because no-one knows what would happen if this deal doesn’t pass. It would open the door to more division and more uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail.”
 
Mr Corbyn said: “The Prime Minister says if we reject this deal, it will take us back to square one. The truth is, under this Government we have never got off square one.
 
“This botched deal is still a bad deal for the country and all yesterday did was mark the end of this Government’s failed and miserable negotiations.”
 
Mrs May told MPs the Government had ensured that Gibraltar was covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and would negotiate a future relationship “for the whole UK family, including Gibraltar”.
 
In a riposte to French President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that the EU could delay trade talks unless its fishermen were granted access to UK waters, the PM said: “The EU have maintained throughout this process that they wanted to link overall access to markets to access fisheries.
 
“They failed in the Withdrawal Agreement, and they failed again in the Political Declaration.
 
“It is no surprise some are already trying to lay down markers again for the future relationship, but they should be getting used to the answer by now: it is not going to happen.”
 
Meanwhile, Downing Street chief of staff Gavin Barwell and effective deputy prime minister David Lidington invited opposition MPs to a briefing on the agreement.
 
But Downing Street sources said they were not aware of the Prime Minister seeking to speak to Labour MPs thought to be considering backing her deal.
 
Ahead of the vote in Parliament, Mrs May has started a campaign to sell her deal directly to the public, with visits to all parts of the UK planned.
 
Her spokesman declined to confirm or deny reports that Number 10 is considering a possible TV debate with Mr Corbyn, something the Labour leader has made clear he would relish. source -yahoo

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