UK: Focus on indicative votes – Danske Bank

Jakob Christensen, chief analyst at Danske Bank, suggests that as far as Brexit is concerned, all eyes are on the indicative votes tonight and to what extent they will bring clarity on the way forward.

Key Quotes

“Yesterday, more Brexiteers including now officially Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of the most prominent Brexiteers, are now suggesting they will, or are close to, support May’s deal, as they see the alternative is a softer, not a harder, Brexit.”

“We have argued for a long time that this would probably happen eventually. The problem is that DUP does not seem near supporting May’s deal just yet and yesterday DUP’s Wilson said a long extension would be better than May’s deal. It would probably also help if PM Theresa May was willing to step down but she is unlikely to give in to this demand before she knows it is sufficient to get the deal over the finishing line.”

“Even if DUP and most Conservatives support the deal, May will probably still need Labour votes, as both conservative die hard remainers and Brexiteers, although small in number, are voting against the deal no matter what.”