Britain’s day of political drama

LONDON • A game of high drama and high stakes is expected to play out in Britain Tuesday as Parliament finally gets to vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

With just over 24 hours to go before the biggest vote of her political life, May found herself Monday resorting to a mixture of pleading, threats and stark warnings.

In a speech delivered to workers at a British pottery manufacturer in the central town of Stoke-on-trent, where two-thirds of the voters cast ballots to leave the European bloc, May told the rebels in her own Conservative Party that they faced a stark choice: either accept her imperfect but doable deal or cut ties with Europe with no deal at all, an option now favoured by many of her fellow Tories, but which economists predict could inflict chaos and financial pain.

“With no deal, we would have no implementation period, no security co-operation, no guarantees for U.K. citizens overseas, no certainty for businesses and workers here in Stoke and across the U.K,” the prime minister said.

Just an hour after her remarks, one of May’s Conservative Party whips in Parliament, Gareth Johnson, whose job it is to wrangle votes for prime minister’s agenda, abruptly resigned. Johnson said he could not support May’s half-in, halfout compromise deal, which he claimed “prevents us taking back control and instead could leave us perpetually constrained by the European Union.”

He was the 13th member of May’s government to quit over Brexit.

On the eve of Tuesday’s historic vote in the House of Commons, lawmakers remained deeply unhappy with the terms of the withdrawal agreement May spent two years negotiating in Brussels.

The opponents — led by former foreign minister Boris Johnson and former Brexit secretary David Davis — say May’s accord condemns Britain to be a “vassal” of Europe, taking laws, but not writing them. The Euroskeptics argue that the 585-page withdrawal agreement keeps Britain too closely aligned with European tariff rules and customs regulations and forestalls bigger, better trade deals around the world.

During a speech to Parliament Monday, May urged skeptical lawmakers to think again.

“Whatever you may have previously concluded, over these next 24 hours, give this deal a second look,” May said.

“No, it is not perfect. And yes, it is a compromise,” she said. “But when the history books are written, people will look at the decision of this House tomorrow and ask: Did we deliver on the country’s vote to leave the European Union?”

In response, the leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn said that nothing had changed since December, when May pulled the vote because it was facing defeat. He called on lawmakers to “reject a deal that is clearly bad for this country.”

Corbyn is reportedly poised to table a vote of no confidence in the government straight after the “meaningful vote,” if — as widely expected — the deal is rejected.

Should the censure motion secure the backing of a simple majority of MPS, it would almost certainly force May to resign and would give the Conservative Party just two weeks to form an administration capable of winning the confidence of the Commons.

“It is clear if the prime minister’s deal is rejected tomorrow that it is time for a general election, it is time for a new government,” said Corbyn.

However, if he is unable to force a snap general election — he would need the help of rebel Tories — Corbyn will come under greater pressure to throw his weight behind a second referendum, an option he has repeatedly played down.