PM May set to reject calls for a second Brexit referendum

British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to reject growing calls for a second referendum on Brexit in Parliament on Monday, despite failing to win new concessions from European Union leaders at last week's Brussels summit.

In comments released in advance, May argued that another referendum would do "irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics" and would "likely leave us no further forward".

"Let us not break faith with the British people by trying to stage another referendum," she was expected to say, adding that, "it would say to millions who trusted in democracy that our democracy does not deliver".

Former British prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair are among those urging a new referendum if MPs cannot agree on a way forward.

Last week, May called off a Commons vote on her Brexit deal, admitting it was likely to be heavily rejected.

The United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 - the deal sets out the terms of exit and includes a declaration on the outline of the future relations between the UK and the EU. But it only comes into force if the UK and European parliaments approve it.

May has signaled MPs will now vote on this early next year, and no later than Jan 21.

'Gridlocked Parliament'

Blair renewed his call for another referendum - if there is no parliamentary majority for any one Brexit outcome.

"Parliament's gridlocked, Parliament can't decide and therefore we've got to go back to the British people to decide," the former Labour leader told Radio 4's Today program.

Labour's official position is to try to force a general election if May's deal is rejected. If that attempt fails, the party says that supporting another referendum could be an option.

Brexit uncertainty is affecting the wider UK economy, with a new report showing the average price tag on a home is nearly 10,000 pounds ($12,640) cheaper than it was just two months ago - the sector's worst annual performance in almost a decade.

The average asking price of a UK home dipped by 3.2 percent, or 9,719 pounds ($12,285), between October and December to 297,527 pounds ($376,000), according to the property website Rightmove, with prices dipping 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent in November and December respectively.

A softening of prices at the end of 2018 meant that asking prices rose by just 0.7 percent over the year as a whole, the weakest rate of growth since 2010.

The traditional hot spots of London and southeast England became the weakest spots this year, recording the biggest annual falls in asking prices.

Rightmove is predicting zero growth in UK prices in 2019, against a backdrop of stretched affordability and Brexit vacillation.

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily 12/18/2018 page11)