100 Days to Brexit

Tomorrow marks 100 days before we leave the European Union.

If everything goes to plan the date for Brexit is March 29 2019.

There is still a chance the process could be halted or delayed or we could crash out a without a deal.

But assuming the Government is still aiming for that date then it faces a race against time to get the UK ready for life outside the EU.

These are the major challenges which lie ahead.

The Prime Minister was forced to pull a Commons vote last week on her Brexit plan.

This is because so many Conservative MPs and the DUP are unhappy with the Irish backstop.

The backstop says that if no other solution can be found then the whole of the UK will remain in the EU's orbit to prevent a return of a hard border in Ireland.

Mrs May is frantically trying to get further concessions from Brussels to assure MPs the backstop will be time limited and only used as a last resort.

But as EU leaders have been adamant they will not reopen talks on the Withdrawal Agreement the Prime Minister is unlikely to get a legally-binding concession.

The Prime Minister has promised that she will submit her Brexit plan for a Commons vote in the week beginning January 14.

MPs will be asked to vote on two papers: the Withdrawal Agreement which sets out the terms of our divorce and the Future Partnership which offers a route map towards a new trading relationship between the UK and the EU.

As it stands, the Prime Minister is still facing a defeat.

The motion could also be amended by MPs who could demand the extension of Article 50 to allow negotiations to run into extra time; a softer Brexit such as the Norway option; or a second referendum.

Supposing Mrs May's deal does scrape through...