UK government defiant as Parliament takes control of Brexit
LONDON — British lawmakers were preparing to blow open the Brexit process and put a host of rejected options back on the table — including keeping the U.K. close to the European Union or even remaining a member — as Prime Minister Theresa May defiantly insisted Tuesday that Parliament should approve her twice-defeated divorce deal instead.
Lawmakers are scheduled to vote Wednesday on multiple flavours of Brexit, after the House of Commons voted to wrest the parliamentary timetable away from May’s weakened government and hold votes on alternatives to her rejected withdrawal agreement.
The largely pro-EU legislators behind the unprecedented move hope to find a form of Brexit that can command a majority in Parliament. Votes are due to be held Wednesday on options that could include remaining in the EU’s single market and customs union, calling a new membership referendum and cancelling Brexit — all ideas that May has repeatedly rejected.