Regretful Brexit backers lobby for another referendum

London, January 18 

Britons who have changed their minds since voting to leave the European Union in 2016 are among those uniting to call for another chance to reverse the decision. These "Remainer now" voters, former Brexit supporters, are adding their voices to the chorus of calls for a second referendum amid political paralysis in Britain over the issue. 

Gary Maylin, 38, from Norwich in eastern England, said he originally backed leaving the bloc after more than four decades of membership because he "wanted sovereignty for the UK". He recalled facing a barrage of pro-Brexit sentiment at the time which influenced his choice. “My MP was 

(pro-)Leave, all arguments I heard were for Leave,” he said. "So I decided the EU was to blame for a lot of the things that were going wrong — the inability of our government to control our destiny." 

The world's fifth-largest economy is in political turmoil and grasping for solutions that could smooth its planned departure from the bloc just 10 weeks from now. British Prime Minister Theresa May is scrambling to put together a new Brexit strategy after MPs rejected her EU divorce deal, but admitted on Thursday that she cannot rule out a potentially damaging “no-deal” split. 

Maylin was among 51.9 per cent of voters to support leaving the bloc in the nationwide referendum two and-a-half years ago, trumping the 48.1 per cent who went for Remain. But he says he would now "absolutely" vote the other way. "I've come to appreciate that we are not going to... succeed as a nation on our own," Maylin explained, adding "walking away isn't working for us". "We really benefit from being strong as a united Europe rather than independent as a country," he said. 

Earlier this week, Maylin joined a dozen or so other Brexit converts who headed to Westminster, the epicentre of political power, to tell British MPs why they now want another referendum. The meeting was organised by "RemainerNow", an initiative launched by a Europhile, Andrew Davidson, in his spare time with a presence online. — AFP

May calls EU leaders on ‘next steps’

Brussels: British PM Theresa May spoke to EU leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk by telephone on Friday to discuss where to go next on Brexit. “Discussed with PM @theresa_may the next steps on the UK side. #Brexit,” tweeted Tusk, who represents EU leaders as president of the European Council May also spoke with the head of the EU executive, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, at her request.