'Zombie gov't' braces for UK parliament test
LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May presents her programme to parliament on Wednesday with a focus on Brexit and terrorism, despite suffering an election fiasco that British media said has turned her government into a "zombie."
The formal State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II comes after a string of tragedies which have shaken the nation, and an election on June 8 in which May lost her parliamentary authority.
The queen will read out the watered-down list of proposed legislation and lawmakers will then spend the next few days debating before bringing it to a vote.
May could be forced to resign if she loses the vote, just as the country embarks on highly sensitive negotiations for Britain's withdrawal from the EU.
After four terror attacks and a devastating fire that have darkened the national mood, protesters are also planning a "Day of Rage" in the streets against May's Conservatives that will converge outside parliament.
The Times branded her administration the "stumbling husk of a zombie government" and said May was now "so weak that she cannot arbitrate between squabbling cabinet ministers," who are increasingly publicly divided over Brexit. "Downing Street is a vacuum," the newspaper said.
May called the June 8 snap general election in a bid to strengthen her mandate heading into the Brexit talks. But the plan spectacularly backfired, leaving her with a minority government that is now trying to form a majority with Northern Ireland's ultraconservative Democratic Unionist Party.