Britain’s Parliament voted on Thursday to seek a delay of the country’s departure from the European Union, a move that will likely avert a chaotic withdrawal on the scheduled exit date of March 29.
With Brexit due in 15 days and no divorce deal yet approved, the House of Commons voted 412-202 to ask the bloc to postpone Britain’s exit until at least June 30.
Power to approve or reject the extension lies with the EU, whose officials have said they will only allow a delay if Britain either approves a divorce deal or makes a fundamental shift in its approach to Brexit. In a historic irony, almost three years after Britain voted to leave the EU, its future is now in the bloc’s hands.
By law, Britain will leave the EU on March 29, with or without a deal, unless it cancels Brexit or secures a delay. While the Parliament vote gives Prime Minister Theresa May some breathing space, it was still humbling for a leader who has spent two years telling Britons they were leaving the bloc on that date.
Lawmakers have twice rejected her EU divorce deal and also ruled out leaving the EU without an agreement. Withdrawing without a deal could mean major disruptions for businesses and people in the UK and the 27 remaining countries.
But there was some good news for May, as lawmakers rejected an attempt to strip her of control over Brexit. They defeated by the narrowest of margins an opposition attempt to let Parliament choose an alternative to May’s rejected divorce deal and force the government to negotiate it with the EU.
The House of Commons defeated the idea by just two votes, 314-312, leaving May at least temporarily in charge of the Brexit agenda.
Lawmakers also voted to rule out the idea of holding a second Brexit referendum at least for now.
By a decisive 334-85 vote, they defeated a motion that called for another vote by the public on whether to stay in the EU or leave. Campaigners for a new referendum are divided over whether the time is right to push for a second Brexit vote. The vote didn’t prevent lawmakers from trying again later to get Parliament’s support for another referendum.
Postponing Brexit gives May some respite, amid a crisis that has shredded her authority and obliterated her control of a fractious Conservative minority government. On Wednesday, a dozen government ministers abstained rather than support May’s bid to keep a no-deal Brexit as an option, while another voted against, and resigned.
Despite the rebuffs and the political chaos, May has signalled she will try a third time to get backing for her agreement next week. She is seeking to win over opponents in her own party and its Northern Irish political ally, the Democratic Unionist Party.
Alan Wager, a researcher at the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, said May faced a struggle to overturn a 149-vote margin of defeat in Parliament this week.
