British Prime Minister Theresa May won parliament’s backing on Tuesday to renegotiate her Brexit deal — a major policy reversal that sets up a new standoff with the European Union after it ruled out any change.
May’s dramatic decision to abandon a pact she herself sealed with the 27 EU leaders at a summit last month came with Britain on course to crash out of the bloc in political and economic chaos on March 29.
A spokesman for EU leader Donald Tusk said the deal was “not open for renegotiation” while French President Emmanuel Macron said it was the “best agreement possible”.
MPs also voted in favour of a non-binding measure that “rejects the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement”.
But they failed to vote through a more important plan — backed by European supporters — that would have tried to force through a Brexit delay if no new deal with the EU emerged by February 26.
After the votes, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was ready to meet May to discuss a “sensible Brexit solution that works for the whole country”.
May now faces a formidable challenge convincing Brussels to re-open talks that took 18 excruciating months to conclude.
She said parliament’s approval of the backstop amendment gave her the “mandate” to “seek to obtain legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement”.
But she conceded that there was “limited appetite” in the EU for renegotiation.