VOA常速英语:脱欧越脱越乱 梅姨引咎辞职

Theresa May came to power following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Her failure to deliver Brexit forced her resignation. I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high, but it is now clear to me that it is, it is in the best interest of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. Her voice cracking, as her husband looked on, the prime minister struggled to hide her emotions. I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honor of my life to hold, the second female Prime Minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. May’s decision to call a snap general election in 2017 backfired and cost her, her parliamentary majority. Three times she failed to get enough MPs to back the Brexit deal she had negotiated with Brussels. In the end her Conservative Party had seen enough.

It will choose a new leader after June 7th, a process that could take two months or more. The difficulty for any new leader is that the majorities in the House of Commons have not changed. More than a dozen Conservative MPs are expected to put their names forward to replace May. Most are demanding a tougher line with Brussels.
The chances that the EU will substantively reopen the withdrawal agreement are pretty much zero. Given how unpopular that deal has proven to be in the UK, I think the chance of no deal are very high. Many leadership candidates say Britain must walk away with no deal if the EU doesn’t budge, among them: former foreign secretary and now leadership front runner Boris Johnson. He is also well known in terms of the kind of tricks he played, trying to manipulate the electorate and in the end voting for leave, so I certainly think he’s not seen as a positive figure in Brussels. With the October 31st deadline looming, the chances of Britain crashing out with no deal appear to have risen. Most analysts say that would have a big negative impact on Britain’s economy. May will still be an office for President Trump’s state visit to Britain at the beginning of June, likely to be her final act on the political stage. She’s a leader who promised to heal Britain’s divisions over Brexit, but who leaves office with the country even more deeply divided, and its future in or out of Europe still highly uncertain.