May suffers new setbacks

BREXIT: LAWMAKERS BACK AMENDMENT THAT GIVES THEM A BIGGER SAY IN WHAT HAPPENS

House of Commons votes 311-293 to force government to publish legal advice.

London

Prime Minister Theresa May launched a momentous Brexit debate yesterday after suffering a string of stinging rebukes from MPs that exposed her lack of support in parliament.

The House of Commons voted 311-293 to force the government to publish the full legal advice it received from the attorney general about the divorce deal May struck with the European Union (EU) last month.

The government had failed to publish the advice in full despite a resolution passed by MPs last month.

May’s critics believe the report is full of embarrassing details about Britain being forced to follow EU rules for years to come while having no say in its decisions.

Her government argues May has the right to receive legal advice in private, but after the latest parliamentary defeat promised to release the full tome today ahead of next Tuesday’s contentious Brexit vote.

“This house has now spoken and it’s of huge constitutional and political significance,” said opposition Labour Party member Keir Starmer.

Lawmakers also backed an amendment that will give them a bigger say in what happens if May’s deal is voted down – an outcome that looks likely. It would let MPs draft a “Plan B” that May will face intense pressure to follow.

A defeat for the prime minister next week could trigger a no-confidence vote leading to early elections, leaving the Brexit process in utter chaos.

May faced these challenges and the ominous rumblings from disgruntled pro-Brexit members of her own party as she stepped before a packed and agitated session of parliament to kick off five days of intense debate.

“The only solution that will endure is one that addresses the concerns of those who voted ‘Leave’ while reassuring those who voted ‘Remain’,” May said. “This argument has gone on long enough. It is corrosive to our politics and life depends on compromise.”

Her message of unity was interrupted repeatedly by heckling from both pro-EU and Brexit-backing lawmakers.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called May’s plan “a huge and damaging failure for Britain”. –