London (Reuters) :
Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday will try to forge consensus in parliament on a Brexit divorce agreement after the crushing defeat of her own deal left Britain’s exit from the European Union in disarray 10 weeks before it is due to leave.
The day after her parliamentary loss by the worst margin for a British government in modern times, May was widely expected to hold on to power through a confidence vote, having secured the backing of her own party’s rebels and its Northern Irish allies.
The confidence motion, called by opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn after lawmakers rejected May’s Brexit deal by 432-202, will be held at 1900 GMT.
With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the United Kingdom is now in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973. After lawmakers in the 800-year-old parliament dismissed May’s deal, she pledged to speak to senior parliamentarians to find a compromise that would avoid a disorderly no-deal Brexit or another referendum on membership.
“The prime minister, having got through today, assuming that she does, will then be seeking to talk to senior parliamentarians,” House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said.
May, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, will speak to the opposition Labour party, the Northern Irish DUP and her own lawmakers.
Labour’s finance minister-in-waiting, John McDonnell, said May could eventually get a deal through parliament if she negotiated a compromise with his party.
“We will support a deal that brings the country back together, protects jobs and supports the economy,” McDonnell told Reuters, adding that Labour wanted a permanent customs union with the EU, a close relationship with its single market and greater protections for workers and consumers.
Labour says its aim is to win power and negotiate Brexit on better terms. However, many Labour members want to see another referendum with an option to cancel Brexit, and the party says it is ruling out nothing if it fails to bring May down.
May’s humiliating loss appears to catastrophically undermine her two-year strategy of forging an amicable divorce with close ties to the EU after the March 29 exit.
The last time an international treaty was defeated by the British parliament was in 1864, when an extradition treaty with Prussia was voted down, according to the Hansard Society.
Sterling jumped by more than a cent against the U.S. dollar on news of May’s defeat on Tuesday and was holding close to that level on Wednesday. Despite the failure of May’s deal, many investors see the prospect of exiting with no deal at all receding as parliament hardens its stance against it.
