The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:28 PM

British Lawmakers Deliver Defeat To Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit Plans

British lawmakers have delivered a defeat to Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans by giving Parliament the final say on any exit agreement with the European Union.

The House of Commons voted 309-305 on Wednesday to inserting Parliament in the Brexit process and deal another blow to May's already fragile authority.

Several lawmakers from May's governing Conservative Party sided with the opposition to insist that any a deal with the EU require an Act of Parliament before it can take effect - essentially giving lawmakers a veto on Brexit.

May had promised lawmakers a "meaningful vote" on Britain's withdrawal agreement, but opponents said that was not enough of a guarantee.

The vote came as an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill. The government's flagship piece of Brexit legislation, it converts some 12,000 EU laws into British statute on the day the U.K. leaves the bloc in March 2019.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's government is scrambling to stave off defeat on its key Brexit bill from lawmakers demanding a greater say over the country's exit from the European Union.

The House of Commons is due to vote Wednesday on a motion insisting a deal with the EU require an Act of Parliament before it can take effect.

May's Conservative government lacks an overall majority, so it would only take a few Conservative rebels to join the opposition to deliver defeat.

Brexit Secretary David Davis has written to Conservative lawmakers, promising the government will not implement a Brexit deal without Parliament's approval. Britain is due to leave the EU in March 2019.

It's unclear whether the government has done enough to avoid a defeat that would damage May's already precarious authority.

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