British PM battles for Brexit, her future

LONDON • British lawmakers opened Round Two in their bruising battle with Prime Minister Theresa May’s government over her Brexit deal, as the release of 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 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.

Her 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 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 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 nodeal” Brexit that would shut Britain out of EU security tools and EU data-sharing organizations.

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.”

May is struggling to keep the Brexit deal on track after her government was dealt a double blow by Parliament.

In a historic first, legislators on Tuesday found the government in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish legal advice about the agreement. The government had argued that such advice is customarily kept secret. But it bowed to defeat Wednesday and released the reasoning from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.

The legal advice also provided fuel for May’s opponents, who dislike a “backstop” provision that would keep Britain in a customs union with the EU to guarantee an open border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.’s Northern Ireland.

The backstop is intended as a temporary measure, but pro-Brexit lawmakers say it could leave Britain tied to the EU indefinitely and unable to strike new trade deals around the world.

The legal advice confirmed that Britain can’t unilaterally opt out of the backstop, which requires an agreement by both sides.