UK ministers battle to win over rebel MPs on Brexit deal

London: UK ministers were set to battle on Wednesday in an attempt to win over rebel MPs on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, a day after the government suffered three parliamentary defeats on key votes. The start of a five-day debate on May’s deal was delayed by several hours on Tuesday as MPs, in a first defeat for the Prime Minister, passed a historic motion finding the government in contempt of Parliament for failing to publish in full the legal advice on Brexit, the BBC reported.

A crunch vote on May’s Brexit deal is scheduled to take place next week while her ministers will plough on with attempts to win over MPs on Wednesday, with eight hours of debate on the security and immigration aspects of the withdrawal agreement. “By treating Parliament with contempt, the government has proved it has lost its majority and the respect of the house. The Prime Minister can’t keep pushing Parliament away or avoiding responsible scrutiny”. With May still waiting to open the formal debate, MPs then inflicted a third defeat, passing a cross-party amendment tabled by MPs including Dominic Grieve aimed at strengthening the hand of Parliament if the deal gets voted down. (IANS)

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