May presses on with Brexit after minister quits

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Saturday she was determined to win lawmakers' backing for her Brexit deal, after a minister who quit her government said her divorce agreement would leave Britain outnumbered and outmaneuvered in future negotiations with the European Union.

Ex-Universities and Science Minister Sam Gyimah likened the deal to playing soccer against opponents who “are the referee and they make the rules as well.”

May is battling to persuade British lawmakers to back the Brexit agreement when Parliament votes on Dec. 11. She and EU leaders say rejecting the divorce terms, which were endorsed by the EU last weekend, would leave the U.K. facing a messy, economically damaging “nodeal” Brexit on March 29.

But many British lawmakers on both sides of the Brexit debate oppose the deal — Brexiteers because it keeps Britain bound closely to the EU, and pro-EU politicians because it erects barriers between the U.K. and its biggest trading partner.

May, attending a Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, said the message she was getting from other world leaders was the importance of “certainty” about the Brexit path.

She said at a news conference that “passing this deal … will take us to certainty for the future, and that failure to do that would only lead to uncertainty.”

May has acknowledged the Brexit deal is not perfect, but says it delivers on voters' decision to leave the EU while retaining close ties with the bloc, a key trading partner and ally.