Once again, Singapore has been brought up as a point of reference for Brexit. (See here and here previously.)

Background

Here's some quick facts to make sense of current Brexit developments and the context of why Singapore was used:

• British Prime Minister Theresa May has had her withdrawal agreement with the EU rejected twice by British MPs, once on Jan. 15 and again on Feb. 12, BBC reported.
• Separately, British MPs have also voted to reject a no-deal Brexit on March 13, Financial Times (FT) reported.

  • For those of you not in the know, a no-deal Brexit means that the UK will leave the European Union (EU) on March 29, 2019, with no agreements in place about what the relationship between the two entities will be like in future, according to the BBC.

• However, since that has also been rejected, Brexit has now been pushed back to April 12. Should May's deal still not get passed by MPs, the UK will have to tell the EU what it wants to do next by 12 April, BBC reported
.

British Prime Minister accused of a "shameful surrender" akin to Fall of Singapore in 1942

On March 25, a video was uploaded to social media showing a British MP, Crispin Blunt, slamming British Prime Minister Theresa May for taking no-deal Brexit off the table, FT reported.

Blunt is of the pro-Brexit camp and an Eurosceptic (that is, one who is sceptical of the EU in general), according to FT.

In his criticism of May, Blunt stated:

"By taking no-deal off the table at the behest of this Remainer parliament, she has just put the final torpedo into her own deal and any real prospect of Brexit, and that her statement will represent the most shameful surrender by a British leader since Singapore in 1942."

MPs jeer at Blunt's comment

Blunt's comment subsequently attracted jeers, with one MP behind Blunt visibly shaking his head, while others stood up in protest, with cries of "Rubbish!" heard.

In response, May said that a no-deal Brexit had already been rejected twice by the British House of Commons and that it would likely continue to do so, should no-deal be raised again.

"Can I simply say that what I said in my statement was that this house has voted twice to reject no-deal, and may very well continue to reject no-deal, and may very well, as a House, attempt to ensure that no-deal cannot take place."

Here is the video:

Online backlash commences

Blunt's comment attracted further backlash online as well, with many slamming what they saw as imperialist undertones to the sentiments of the pro-Brexit camp.

Why are Brexiteers so obsessed with the old Empire? Tory MP Crispin Blunt comparing May's deal with "surrender" of Singapore in 1942 right now. They need to understand the age when a very British form of white supremacy ruled the waves ain't coming back, No Deal or no No Deal.

— Lester Holloway (@brolezholloway) March 25, 2019

There are resemblances between Brexit and the fall of Singapore.. belief in British exceptionalism, doing nothing in the face of urgent warnings about reality, incompetently backing ourselves into an unwinnable position..

— Andrew Dodds (@andy_the_sane) March 26, 2019

Imagine seeing the entire world through a series of ill-fitting colonial and wartime analogies. "Crispin Blunt, a senior MP, said Mrs May’s comments amounted to the biggest capitulation since the surrender of Singapore in 1942;" https://t.co/G96XaiIt1v

— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) March 26, 2019

What is the significance of the Fall of Singapore to the British?

The Fall of Singapore is largely considered as one of the worst defeats for the British Army in history, according to FT.

What's more, Singapore was seen as the centre of Britain's imperial power in Asia.

Winston Churchill famously called the Fall of Singapore, "the worst disaster, and largest capitulation, in British history".

Why is it being brought up as an analogy over the dismissal of a no-deal Brexit?

As an attempt to convince

FT reported that Blunt's statement was in response to May attempting to pressure the Conservative pro-Brexit camp over their continued blocking of her withdrawal agreement with the EU.

May stated that should her agreement continue to be obstructed, a "slow Brexit" would be the outcome, which would fall short of the pro-Brexit camp's expectations.

FT noted that in the wake of her agreement's rejection for the second time, May has been resorting to different tactics to pressure MPs of different political stripes to accept her agreement.

It added that during the week of March 18 to 23, May had attempted to convince the Labour MPs into backing her withdrawal agreement by highlighting the economic risks of a no-deal Brexit.

This was the reason why Blunt accused May of taking no-deal off the table "at the behest of this Remainer Parliament."

Resignation is an option to have her deal passed

FT highlighted that May's leadership over her own party at this stage has been "shredded" and that her agreement is loathed by both the Europhile and Eurosceptic camps.

While May herself has not explicitly said it, sources close to her have since said that May might offer to resign later in the year if it means her agreement is approved.

Top image collage from National Archives of Singapore and screenshot from ProductiehuisEU