British members of parliament will vote on the United Kingdom’s Brexit deal in the week beginning 14 January, Theresa May has told Parliament.
The vote was due to be held last week but was put on hold after May admitted she was set to lose.
Announcing a new date, Mrs May said the European Union had made it clear the Irish backstop was “not a plot to trap the UK” and urged MPs to see Brexit through.
Labour had threatened to force a confidence vote in the PM if she did not set a date for the vote.
While stopping short of seeking to oust Mrs May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said she had “led the country into a national crisis” and she no longer had cabinet backing.
He said a month would have been wasted since the original 11 December vote was postponed, with “not a single word renegotiated and not a single reassurance given”.
“The deal is unchanged and is not going to change,” he said. “The House must get on with the vote and move on to consider the realistic alternatives.”
Labour said they threatened the confidence vote before they saw an advance copy of the PM’s speech and they believed she backed down in the face of their challenge.
The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 – the deal sets out the terms of exit and includes a declaration on the outline of the future relations between the UK and the EU.But it only comes into force if the UK and European parliaments approve it. (BBC)
