U.K.’s May faces party pushback over EU exit plan
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union but is faced with rebels within her own governing Conservative party.
With a vote set for Monday on a bill granting May the authority to open divorce talks with the European Union, some Conservative lawmakers are pushing for Parliament to have a say on what happens if negotiations break down without an agreement. If May refuses to bow to their demand, they may oppose her in the vote, according to lawmaker Alistair Burt, a former minister.
May is asking the lower
house of Parliament to delete conditions imposed by the unelected upper House of Lords to her draft law, so she can press ahead and start the exit by March 31.
House of Lords members amended the bill to protect residency rights of EU nationals living in the U.K. and guarantee legislators a binding vote on the outcome of talks with the EU, even if there is no pact.
“Parliament must be involved and I want the government to give an assurance about Parliament’s role if there is no deal,” Burt said in a telephone interview Friday. “If they can’t, it may not be possible to get in the way of the Lords’ amendment.”
Bob Neill, another former Tory minister, said by phone Saturday that he’s weighing how to vote and hopes May will give new assurances over Parliament’s role.
Among other senior Tories pressing May over Parliament’s role in the exit process is former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan. She said by phone that she hadn’t decided whether to oppose May and keep the Lords’ amendment, and was “waiting to hear how the government deals with how Parliament has a say if no deal is agreed.” The prime minister is taking on her domestic opponents as her counterparts in the other EU nations brace to engage. At a summit in Brussels on Friday, European Council President Donald Tusk said EU officials would respond within 48 hours of May invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which formally begins the exit process.
EU governments have said they will stand as one to preserve the stability of the bloc and that May will not be allowed to “cherry pick” the best bits of EU membership. They are also threatening to impose an exit fee on the U.K.
May has said she’d be willing to walk away from the talks because “no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal.”
Her critics who support the conditions imposed on the bill by the Lords say legislators must have the power to stop her quitting negotiations without an agreement.
While a smooth process in Parliament could let May notify Brussels of her intention as soon as Tuesday, she could still delay. Her room for maneuver is potentially limited by Dutch elections Wednesday, a conference of the Scottish National Party later this week and a celebration in Rome of the EU’s founding treaty March 25.
The prime minister also must deal with her domestic critics. With a narrow majority of 17, her government is vulnerable to defeat in the House of Commons if as few as nine Tories rebel.
“The government is under serious pressure from its own benches to make a concession,” said James McGrory, co-executive director of the Open Britain campaign against a so-called hard Brexit. “That pressure could intensify over the weekend.”