British MPs to vote on Brexit bill in January

A boat organised by the group ‘People’s Vote’ campaigning for a second referendum on Brexit is seen with a police escort on the Thames outside the Houses of Parliament in London on December 13, 2018.

British lawmakers will vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal in January, according to a schedule published on December 13 by Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House of Commons.

The coming week has been filled by other draft legislation, with parliament then breaking for the holidays until January 7. Ms. May has promised to hold the vote by January 21.

The British leader will brief lawmakers on December 17 about her latest visit to Brussels, where she is meeting the other 27 EU leaders in a bid to wrest more concessions on the deal.

Also Read

Day after no-confidence vote, British Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Brussels

 

EU leaders refuse to renegotiate the actual draft but seem willing to offer Ms. May non-binding assurances on the main dispute involving measures to prevent the return of a hard border with Ireland. Ms. May pulled a vote on the draft scheduled for December 11 because of its certain defeat.

The decision sparked outrage among MPs across party lines, with her own Conservatives trying to oust her on December 12 in a no-confidence vote. Ms. May won by a 200-117 margin, underscoring the scale of the resistance from her own ranks to the Brexit draft.

Britain will leave the European Union on March 29 regardless of whether the two sides agree on divorce terms.