British Prime Minister Theresa May’s bid to push her Brexit plans through Parliament was dealt another blow on Friday when a survey showed that most of her own party’s members oppose the deal and would prefer to leave the European Union (EU) without a deal.
If lawmakers do not approve the deal, the U.K. is on course to leave the EU on March 29 without one, a nightmare scenario for many big businesses who fear disruption to trade.
Parliamentary vote
Ms. May needs 318 votes to get the deal she struck with Brussels in November through Parliament, yet 117 of her Conservative Party’s 317 lawmakers voted against her in a confidence vote on December 12. That means that, unless she gains the support of some of the 257 lawmakers in the Opposition Labour Party — which has said it will not back the deal — she will need to win over swathes of her own party.
Friday’s YouGov survey offered a snapshot of the challenge she faces. Of 1,215 of the Conservative Party’s rank-and-file members questioned by the pollster, 59% opposed Ms. May’s deal and 76% said warnings over the risks of disruption in the event of a no-deal were “exaggerated or invented”.
Just 38% of those polled by YouGov said they supported Ms. May’s deal.
Facing defeat in Parliament last month, Ms. May postponed a vote on the deal and pledged to seek further legal and political assurances from the other 27 members of the EU, which has signalled that it will not reopen negotiations.
The parliamentary vote is now due to take place in the week of January 14 and if Ms. May’s bid to push her deal fails, the United Kingdom will either leave without a deal or have to delay Brexit.
Also, the DUP, the Northern Irish party that props up Ms. May’s government, said on Friday that it would not support her Brexit deal.
