British MPs vote to seize control of Brexit for a day

British lawmakers wrested control of the parliamentary agenda from the government for a day in a highly unusual bid to find a way through the Brexit impasse after Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU divorce deal was rejected again.

Lawmakers will now vote on a range of Brexit options on Wednesday, giving parliament a chance to indicate whether it can agree on a deal with closer ties to Brussels – and then try to push the government in that direction.

Nearly three years after the 2016 EU membership referendum, and four days before Britain was supposed to leave the bloc, it remains still unclear how, when or even if Brexit will take place, with parliament and the nation still bitterly divided.

The vote underlined the extent to which May has lost authority over her own lawmakers and ministers, though she said the government would not be bound by the results of the so-called indicative votes.

The government will continue to call for realism – any options considered must be deliverable in negotiations with the EU, said a spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union.

Brexit minister Stephen Barclay had said on Sunday that if parliament took control of the Brexit process, a snap election – which the main opposition Labour party would be likely to back – could be the consequence.

May too has made clear that she would not implement a proposal that ran counter to her election manifesto, which promised a clean break with the EU.

(Reuters)