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Political hobbyists speculated on the future of Brexit if the government fell, if a new Conservative leader was chosen, if a general election was called or if a second referendum was held. Debates were tabled over five days, in prospect of a Commons vote on 11 December on the withdrawal agreement from the EU to which Theresa May, the Prime Minister, had agreed. She told the Commons that it would allow Britain to negotiate, sign and ratify new trade deals from the moment it left next March (even if none could be implemented until the end of the transition period, 31 December 2020 at the earliest, or by any given date, if the backstop came into operation). A leaked letter from May’s chief Brexit adviser, Oliver Robbins, said that ‘the backstop world, even with a UK-EU customs union, is a bad outcome’. Nigel Farage left Ukip.
The government was bitten from behind by a Commons motion finding it in contempt of Parliament for failing to publish legal advice it had received on the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
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