VOA常速英语:British Prime Minister’s Future on Brink

Britain’s business leaders Monday offered a stark warning on the growing cost of Brexit uncertainty.Brexit, it is consuming government every politician, every civil servant and it’s also consuming British business.Our firms are spending hundreds of millions of pounds preparing for the worst case.
英国商界领袖周一就英国脱欧不确定性带来的成本日益上升发出了严厉警告。英国脱欧，伤害了政府、政客、公务员，也伤害了英国企业。我们的公司正花费数亿英镑准备应付最坏的情况。

Prime Minister Theresa May says the deal will be good for business, enabling it to recruit talent from around the world.It will no longer be the case that EU nationals regardless of the skills or experience they have to offer, can jump the queue ahead of engineers from Sydney or software developers from Delhi.
英国首相Theresa May表示，这一事件对企业有利，使企业能够从世界各地招募人才。欧盟国家的公民，无论他们拥有什么样的技能或经验，都不可能比悉尼的工程师或德里的软件开发人员更优秀。

That pledge designed to placate Brexit supporters who say that withdrawal agreement leaves Britain too closely aligned to the European Union. The supporters of Brexit had always sold Brexit on the idea that you could go and do lots of trade agreements with fast-growing countries in Asia or the United States. The problem that they now face is that Theresa May has signed up to a customs union which means that the UK essentially devolves power over its tariffs and over various other elements of its trade policy to the EU potentially.Several ministers have resigned in protest while others are trying to force to resume to modify the deal,but both the Prime Minister and the EU say negotiations on the withdrawal agreement are finished.As the rebellion grows, Conservative MPs may force a leadership contest as early as this week.Even if Theresa May survives,most MPs have pledged to vote against the deal in Parliament that would likely plunge Britain into political chaos.The pound is gonna tank.That can be a huge amount of pressure from the markets and from business saying look we must have a deal, we can’t have no deal.
这一承诺旨在安抚脱欧支持者，他们认为脱欧协议让英国与欧盟的关系过于紧密。英国脱欧的支持者一直认为，英国可以与亚洲或美国等快速增长的国家签订大量贸易协议。他们现在面临的问题是，Theresa May已签署了关税联盟协议，这意味着英国实际上是在将关税和贸易政策的其他各种因素权力下放给欧盟。一些部长已经辞职以示抗议，而其他部长则试图施压恢复修改协议，但首相和欧盟都表示，关于脱欧协议的谈判已经结束。随着反对派势力的壮大，保守派议员们最早可能在本周就会展开一场领导权争夺战。即使Theresa May幸存下来，多数议员已承诺在议会投票反对这项可能会让英国陷入政治混乱的协议。英镑将会贬值。这可能会给市场和商业带来巨大压力，其认为我们必须达成协议，我们不能没有协议。

Another scenario is that she resigns.There is no government which can be created out of Parliament and therefore we have a general election, although I think that’s quite unlikely;and then the final option is that there is a second referendum on whether the UK should leave at all with polls suggesting most Britons now want a rethink on Brexit. Bookmakers are shortening the odds on a second referendum and on Theresa May being forced from office.
另一种情况是，她辞职。没有一个政府可以由议会产生，从而会举行大选，尽管我认为这是很可能不会发生；最后一种选择是，第二次全民公投英国是否应该离开，此时民调显示大多数英国人现在想重新考虑脱欧。博彩公司正在缩减第二次公投和Theresa May被迫下台的赔率。

She heads to Brussels this week for talks on the political declaration that outlines future ties with the EU, but that document is not legally binding.And May’s critics say she should not pay Britain’s fifty billion dollar divorce bill for existing liabilities without stronger guarantees of a trade deal.
她将于本周前往布鲁塞尔，就这份政治宣言进行谈判。这份宣言概述了未来与欧盟的关系，但这份文件不具有法律约束力。May的批评者说，如果没有更有力的贸易协议保证，她不应该为现有的债务支付英国500亿美元的脱欧账单。

As the clock ticks down to the March 2019 deadline, uncertainty is intensifying as Britain’s politicians and its people appear ever more divided.
随着2019年3月截止日期的临近，英国政客和民众的分歧越来越大，不确定性也越来越大。

Henry Ridgwell for VOA news London.
美国之音新闻记者Henry Ridgwell伦敦播报。