British MEPs stuck in limbo amid Brexit uncertainty

A British member of the European Parliament says he is uncertain whether he and his team will have jobs beyond Friday, with the UK still at risk of crashing out of the EU without a deal

Labour MEP Seb Dance says he is stuck in limbo because his contract expires on April 12 – the date Britain is currently due to leave the European Union – meaning he can’t plan for anything beyond then.

As a result, he says he and his team have been blocked from booking travel and accommodation to attend a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg next week, because under British and EU law, they will technically no longer be employed.

(From L) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Britain Prime minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron talk as they arrive in Brussels, on October 19, 2017 during the summit of European Union (EU) leaders, set to rule out moving to full Brexit trade talks after negotiations stalled. / AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

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“It’s not great for blood pressure,” Dance told CNN. “I’m not going to pretend we’re having a great time with the uncertainty.”

He said he and his staff went through the same issues last time a Brexit date loomed, on March 29.

“We suspected the [European] Council would grant the extension because we knew of the request the week before, but we obviously had no guarantee – so it’s exactly the same this week,” he said.

Labour MEP Seb Dance told CNN he and his team have struggled to book travel and accomodation in order to attend parliamentary sessions because of Brexit.

May says she wants to extend the Brexit deadline to June 30 – a date rejected by the EU when the UK last sought a postponement – to give her more time to break the political impasse in London.

The EU is expected to hand down its decision later on Wednesday after the remaining 27 member states attend an emergency meeting in Brussels. At this stage, it’s unclear whether the EU will grant her the extension she has requested, or give a longer delay.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is asking the EU for a delay to Brexit until June 30.

James Franey, a parliamentary assistant to Conservative MEP Daniel Dalton, is more relaxed about the situation, saying his team’s contracts “will be extended in the event of Article 50 being extended,” and adding that they would wait to book travel to Strasbourg over “the next couple of days,” once the situation is clearer.

Uncertainty around EU elections

Should May’s request for an extension be granted, it also raises questions over Britain’s role in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament.

British MEPs were not expected to contest their seats, since Brexit was originally scheduled to have happened on March 29.

Given the earlier postponement, and ongoing uncertainty, the UK government has begun preparations to enable the country to participate in the elections.

In a letter to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, May said the UK government “accepts the European Council’s view” that it would be under a legal obligation to hold elections to the European Parliament if it wants an extension beyond May 22. But she said that if a deal was reached before then, the elections would be canceled.

A pro-EU campaigner holds the EU flag and displays placards near the Houses of Parliament in central London on April 3, 2019. - Prime Minister Theresa May was to meet Wednesday with Britain's main opposition party leader in a bid to forge a Brexit compromise that avoids a dreaded "no-deal" departure from the EU in nine days. (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES / AFP) (Photo credit should read ISABEL INFANTES/AFP/Getty Images)

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Dance says that even if elections do go ahead, if the UK leaves the EU on June 30, “new MEPs won’t even take their seats because the parliament doesn’t sit again until the 1st of July formally.”

“So you could have new MEPs being elected who don’t ever sit which is slightly tragic,” he said.

Dance added that if a longer extension was granted and they were able to sit, there would be an “obvious question mark” over how British MEPs can make their voices heard, when the UK is still supposed to be leaving the bloc at some point.

“The worry I have is that we do come back, which is great, but because Brexit is still a thing – it’s never quite going away – the ability for British MEPs to exert influence, which we’ve managed quite effectively for the last two and a bit years, could be quite difficult.”

MEPs at a European Parliament session in Strasbourg in 2018.

Some MEPs are torn as to whether they should even stand in the elections.

David Campbell Bannerman, a Conservative MEP since 2009, announced on Tuesday that he would not run again, because it would “be dishonorable for me personally.”

“I strongly believe it is entirely wrong and counterproductive for these elections to be held at all. With nearly three years since the Referendum … the British people are angrily demanding that the result be honored and Brexit be delivered,” Bannerman said in a statement.

Charles Tannock, another Conservative MEP – who was first elected in 1999 and backs a second Brexit referendum – has somberly reflected on his time in Brussels and Strasbourg coming to an end.

“Many goodbyes to make but might still be an MEP next week for last Strasbourg session of this parliament to make final goodbyes,” he wrote on Twitter. “So much uncertainty for so many of us but all will be clear this week I hope.”

No-deal Brexit ‘will be chaos’

Unless the EU agrees to a delay, the UK will leave without a deal on Friday, April 12 – a scenario that business leaders and economists have warned would trigger chaos.

Dance says if that happens, his intention is to stay in Brussels, at least in the short term.

British Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the nation after asking the EU for a Brexit extension on March 20.

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“I think no deal will be so bad for a whole range of reasons,” he said. “I mean we’re going to be talking about instant shortages of fresh food. It’s absurd, but that’s what will happen.”

“It will be chaos. I don’t want to be subject to that chaos from a personal point of view. I’d prefer to be here.”

Amid the uncertainty though, Dance says increased likelihood that Brexit could fall apart entirely is what’s keeping him and his team going.

“The adrenaline of maybe actually killing this thing [Brexit] is probably getting us through, in the sense that I’ve always thought Brexit is full of contradictions that would expose themselves eventually and I think they finally are,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re on the road to it dying.”

A newspaper with a Brexit-focused headline is seen next to a MEP attending a debate in Parliament.

While uncertainty is often part and parcel of a job in politics, Dance says it’s not just MEPs’ futures that are in limbo.

“People who work in the commission – the Brits – some of whom who have been there for years and years, would expect to be in much more higher power positions were it not for the fact they’re British,” he said.

“I think all of that has caused a lot of people to live in a sort of limbo and uncertainty for a very long period of time and it’s not good for well-being.”