May warns rebel lawmakers not to imperil orderly Brexit

london — British Prime Minister Theresa May warned rebellious lawmakers in her own party they could endanger Britain’s smooth exit from the European Union if they tried to change her Brexit blueprint.

May has tried to avert a rebellion in parliament by promising parliament a series of votes on any deal to leave the EU “as soon as possible” after Brexit talks end, but offered little new ahead of session on Wednesday. Members of Parliament (MPs) are debating new laws which will repeal the 1972 legislation binding Britain to the EU and copy existing EU law into domestic law to ensure legal continuity after ‘Exit Day’ on March 29, 2019.

After six days of debate in parliament ranging from the legal minutiae of Brexit to the gaping differences between ‘Remainers’ and ‘Leavers’, May could face a defeat as lawmakers demand more say over the final exit deal.

Wednesday’s likely flashpoint was an amendment put forward by a member of May’s own party, the government’s former attorney general, Dominic Grieve, who wants parliament to have a meaningful vote on any deal before it is finalised.

But May warned that his proposal could push the complex task of transposing EU law legislation right to the end of the two-year negotiation period triggered earlier this year.

“That could be at a very late stage in the proceedings which could mean that we are not able to have the orderly and smooth exit from the European Union that we wish to have,” she told parliament before an hours-long debate on the exit plan. If passed by a simple majority vote, the amendment would require parliament to approve the government’s final Brexit deal by passing a separate written law once the terms of the withdrawal agreement are known.

That could allow lawmakers to send May back to the negotiating table if they do not like the deal — something that might not be supported by EU negotiators.

Earlier on Wednesday, the European Parliament urged EU leaders to allow the next phase of talks to start, backing a motion that recognised they had advanced sufficiently as well as a line criticising Britain’s negotiator David Davis. The government has conceded that a separate piece of legislation, allowing members of parliament more say on the deal, will be needed and aims to pass another bill implementing the Brexit agreement once final terms are agreed with Brussels. —