British Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposal for how the United Kingdom should extract itself from the European Union appeared on Tuesday to be facing another defeat in Parliament. Lawmakers were to cast votes Tuesday night, for the second time, for or against the proposed Brexit deal that May has spent more than two years negotiating with the EU.
She won some last minute concessions from EU negotiators on Monday to try and get a majority of the House of Commons on board with her plan, but her own attorney general made it clear the changes were effectively cosmetic, and would not give the U.K. the legal power to cut loose of the EU unilaterally if negotiations drag on. It appeared to doom May’s plan, as pro-Brexit lawmakers have remained adamant that any Brexit deal must not leave Britain trapped under EU rules post-breakup.
Attorney general Geoffrey Cox said the changes May won from Europe did “reduce the risk” that Britain could be stuck inside EU regulations indefinitely, but did not eliminate it.
The so-called “meaningful vote” in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening comes less than three weeks before Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29.
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Lawmakers defeated May’s deal by a whopping 230 votes in January, but May hoped the changes she secured from the bloc would be enough to persuade many to change their minds. That appeared unlikely after Cox’s assessment, however.