The developments come after UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox warned that Britain may be tied to the EU customs union “indefinitely” through the Northern Ireland “backstop” following the country’s withdrawal from the bloc.
If the UK government fails to release its full legal advice on the Brexit deal, Prime Minister Theresa May will most likely face a “historic constitutional row that puts Parliament in direct conflict with the executive”, according to the Labour Party’s Brexit spokesman, Sir Keir Starmer.
“The next nine days are a really important time for our country, leading up to the [December 11] vote on this deal. I will be talking with members of Parliament obviously and explaining to them why I believe this is a good deal for the UK,” she emphasized.
On November 14, May’s cabinet released a draft of the Brexit withdrawal deal which comes in two parts: a 585-page withdrawal agreement and a 26-page statement on future relations between the UK and the EU.
The deal’s major controversies include the so-called “divorce bill”, almost 40 billion pounds in aid (just over $50 billion) the UK has to pay the EU; another bone of contention is the unclear situation with the UK-EU border in Northern Ireland.