British MPs demand ‘Plan B’ for Brexit, UK stocks remain resilient
Several pro-EU members of parliament have piled the pressure on Theresa May to draft a back-up plan for Brexit in the increasingly likely event that her deal is voted down next week.
UK prime minister Theresa May has been told to go back to the drawing board and draft a back-up plan for Brexit ahead of parliamentary vote next week on her deal.
MPs from her own Conservative party and opposing Labour party put forward a motion in the House of Commons on Wednesday demanding that May provide a plan B for Brexit in the next three days rather than the original 21 days, so that alternatives can be considered ahead of the vote on Tuesday 15.
Piling on the pressure
By reducing the timetable for May’s government to draft alternatives to her existing withdrawal agreement with the EU, pressure is mounting on the prime minister, who is already expected to have her deal voted down by MPs in parliament next week.
‘If the prime minister’s Brexit deal is rejected, parliament must decide what happens next,’ ‘Labour’s Brexit policy chief Keir Starmer said.
‘This amendment has Labour’s full support,’ he added.
UK stocks calibrate to the new normal
Despite little clarity on Brexit, UK stocks have weathered today’s news well, with investors seemingly adjusting to a new normal.
The FTSE 100 rallied by as much 76 points in the early afternoon on Wednesday, rising by 1%, only to slide a little later, with hovering at 6926 levels as of 3:05pm GMT.
Mid-market companies have once again beat their blue-chip counterparts, with the FTSE 250 climbing more than 1% for the third consecutive time this week.
Global fashion retailer Ted Baker and IT infrastructure and services provider Softcat helped drag the index higher on Wednesday, with the former rising as much as 21% after publishing strong Christmas sales growth and the latter seeing its stock up 19%.
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