U.K. Parliament, May government facing off
British lawmakers opened Round Two in their bruising battle with Prime Minister Theresa May’s government over her Brexit deal, as the release of previously secret legal advice provided more ammunition for opponents of her unpopular divorce agreement with the European Union.
May’s Conservative government is struggling to convince skeptical legislators that the divorce deal it has struck with the EU is a good one ahead of a vote in Parliament on Tuesday that could sink the agreement and possibly cost May her job.
May’s deal is in trouble because politicians on both sides of Britain’s EU membership debate oppose it.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers say it keeps Britain bound too closely to the EU; pro-EU politicians say it erects barriers between the U.K. and its biggest trading partner and leaves many details of the future relationship undecided, subject to negotiations after Britain leaves the bloc on March 29.
A defeat in the vote next week would leave the U.K. facing a messy, economically damaging “nodeal” Brexit on March 29 and could topple the prime minister, her government, or both. EU officials have said they agreed upon a Brexit deal with May, and there’s no “Plan B.”
Opening the second of five days of debate, Home Secretary Sajid Javid told legislators Wednesday they should back the Brexit agreement to safeguard Britain’s vital security relationship with the EU.
“No one can pretend that this deal is perfect in every sense,” Javid acknowledged. But he said the alternative was “an unco-operative no-deal” Brexit that would shut Britain out of EU security tools and EU data-sharing organizations.
“It is my belief that the deal on the table is the best option available in ensuring a smooth exit from the European Union,” Javid said.
But opposition Labour Party lawmaker Chris Bryant said the agreement’s vision for future relations with the EU was “no more deliverable than a letter to Santa Claus.”
“How could a serious member of Parliament vote for nothing more than a wish list?” he said.