London – British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Sunday promised a “meaningful vote’’ by March 12 in parliament on the deal she has struck for Britain’s departure from the EU this month.
“My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week,” May said on her way to an EU-Arab League summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.
“As a result of that we won’t bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12,” she was quoted as saying.
Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29.
May has long been accused of trying to run down the clock to give lawmakers fewer options when it comes to a final vote, and says the deadline should not be moved.
If the deal passes in parliament, further legislative changes would still be required to put the Brexit deal into law.
Her last attempt to win parliament’s backing for a deal ended in a resounding defeat for May.
Brexit negotiations have hit an impasse, with London and Brussels unable to agree on a politically viable deal to regulate Britain’s departure from the bloc, mainly due to differences over the Irish border.
In a separate development, the Church of England has called on its
congregations to take part in five days of prayer to overcome the social and political divisions surrounding Brexit.
“Brexit has revealed how our politics and society have, for many decades, not paid sufficient attention to the common good,” Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said in a speech at the General Synod on Saturday.
“The reality of exclusion and division is seen in the difficulty of our political system to build a consensus and find a common path forward,” he said.