BRITAIN’S MAY WINS TRUST VOTE DESPITE BREXIT REBELLION
She wins 200-117, but future of her Brexit deal is bleak
LONDON : PM Theresa May won the confidence of the Conservative party by 200 to 117 votes on Wednesday night, but the scale of rebellion against her left her politically weakened. The vote doesn’t brighten her prospects of eventually pushing the Brexit deal through in Parliament. She admitted that “a significant number of my colleagues did cast a vote against me”.
LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May won the confidence of the Conservative Party by 200 to 117 votes on Wednesday night, but the scale of rebellion against her left her politically weakened. The vote doesn’t brighten her prospects of eventually pushing the Brexit deal through in Parliament.
As 117 Conservative MPs expressed lack of confidence in their PM, May admitted that “a significant number of my colleagues did cast a vote against me”.
Having won the vote, May’s position is somewhat safe for the next year. But Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said, “She may have clung on to the Conservative leadership, but her remaining authority has been fatally undermined.”
May left for Brussels on Thursday to discuss with EU leaders possible changes in the withdrawal agreement, specifically on the backstop for Northern Ireland that has infuriated leavers and remainers alike. But EU leaders insist there is no room for further negotiations.
In Brussels, May said, “My focus now is to get those assurances that we need to get this deal over the line because I genuinely believe it’s in the best interests of both sides, of the UK and the EU.”
May’s victory led to bruising headlines on Wednesday: ‘It’s lame duck for Christmas’, ‘May scrapes home’, ‘A vote to Remain, but when will she Leave?’ and ‘Tory coup fails. But scale of rebellion damages May’.
The win does not change the arithmetic in the House of Commons, where the agreement is to be voted upon in the near future.
A large number of ruling Conservative MPs have declared they would vote against it, besides the opposition Labour and other parties.
Addressing party MPs before voting began, May sought to assuage her critics by declaring that she would not lead the party at the next election in 2022, but was keen to see through Brexit, which is due to happen on March 29, 2019.
Senior Labour MP John McDonnell said, “Shocking result for Theresa May. Even having offered to go before the next general election, she still has a huge 117 Tory MPs, a third of her party, voting against her and not having confidence in her. Wow!”
The leadership vote was triggered by two recent developments: ennui over the ‘backstop’, and May deferring Tuesday’s vote in the House of Commons on the agreement after realising it didn’t have any chance of being passed in the Parliament.
It is now likely to be put to vote before January 21.
Voting by as many as 117 MPs reveals that opposition to her goes beyond the hardline European Research Group (ERG) within the party that lobbies for a clean break from the EU.