London - Prime Minister Theresa May faces strong opposition on
Tuesday as she tries to persuade lawmakers to back her plans for
Britain to withdraw from the European Union.
Lawmakers will vote on several non-binding amendments to May's plans,
which she submitted following a crushing defeat on the deal she has
negotiated for Britain to leave the EU on March 29.
One key amendment seeks to commit the government to renegotiating a
"backstop" arrangement designed to guarantee an open Irish border
after Brexit, while another proposes extending the Brexit negotiating
process beyond March.
The Commons, parliament's main elected house, rejected the withdrawal
deal by 432 votes to 202 on January 15, delivering the biggest-ever
defeat to a British government.
Lawmakers are expected to press May during Tuesday's debate to
indicate when a second vote might be held on the deal.
Dozens of Conservative eurosceptics and 10 lawmakers from Northern
Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which has propped up May's
minority government since June 2017, voted against her deal two weeks
ago.
They mainly oppose the backstop, which could place Northern Ireland
under slightly different, indefinite arrangements from the rest of
the United Kingdom.
After her defeat on January 15, May said she would seek "consensus"
on the way forward in talks with opposition leaders, business groups
and trade unions.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who refused to meet May, branded the
talks a "stunt." Other opposition lawmakers who met her said there
was little sign of compromise.