Theresa May suffers parliament defeat as Brexit debate restarts
UK legislators demand the government devise a plan B within days if premier loses a vote on her deal to leave EU
London — British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered an early defeat to her Brexit plans on Wednesday, when legislators demanded the government come up with a plan B within days if she loses a vote on her deal to leave the EU. With less than three months before Britain is due to leave the EU, parliament kicked off a five-day battle over May’s Brexit plan with a show of force — undermining her preferred timetable if legislators vote down her deal on Tuesday. May has refused to retreat from her unpopular deal, which envisages close trading ties with the EU after leaving in March, pressing ahead with the vote that she looks set to lose after failing to win over her nominal Northern Irish allies. Losing the vote would deepen the uncertainty over the future of Brexit, Britain’s biggest shift in foreign and trade policy for more than 40 years, and opens the way for several different outcomes, ranging from a disorderly exit to another referendum. Legislators voted 308-297 in favour of dema...
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