May's Brexit Deal Lets Parliament Pick Its Poison
The fate of the prime minister’s last-ditch gambit depends on lawmakers acknowledging that Brexit is a game with losers, but no winners.
Prime Minister, for now.
Photographer: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images.
Say at least this for Theresa May: She has thrown absolutely everything at the effort to make her European Union divorce deal palatable to Britain's parliament. On Monday night that included a dramatic last-ditch trip to Strasbourg to sign off on the latest – and, according to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the last – changes to the Brexit agreement.
It’s too early to say whether the gambit has worked. Parliament rejected her deal by 230 votes in January and will get another chance to approve it on Tuesday night. But May has also promised them two further votes this week if they turn it down again: One on whether Britain should leave with no deal at all and another on whether it should seek a delay to the March 29 exit day.