Where鈥檚 the Brexit? UK heads into the unknown
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britain headed into the unknown yesterday just 17 days before it is scheduled to leave the European Union, as parliament appeared certain to quash Prime Minister Theresa May鈥檚 Brexit deal.
Parliament鈥檚 failure to back the divorce terms could unleash economic chaos: It raises the risk of Britain severing ties with its biggest trade partner on March 29 without a deal after 46 years of EU membership.
May had dashed off to Strasbourg on Monday to wrest concessions from EU leaders in a last-gasp bid to win parliament鈥檚 blessing in one of its most consequential votes in generations.
The British leader announced that she had secured the 鈥渓egally binding changes鈥 to the vexing issue of the Irish border that lawmakers had long sought.
But Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, who provides the government with independent legal advice, said the risk in the most contentious points of the 585-page withdrawal deal agreed with the EU 鈥渞emains unchanged.鈥
May鈥檚 initial deal with Brussels on unwinding Britain鈥檚 EU membership suffered an overwhelming defeat at the hands of MPs in January, with anti-Brexit MPs and hardliners forming an unlikely alliance.
The European Research Group of Brexit hardliners in May鈥檚 Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, which gives May her working majority in parliament, both came out against the deal yesterday. The main opposition Labour Party also opposes it.
The so-called 鈥渂ackstop鈥 solution for the Irish border 鈥 designed to avert sectarian violence from returning to Britain鈥檚 Northern Ireland 鈥 is opposed by ardent Brexit supporters.
They pressed May to secure the right for Britain to pull out of the arrangement or to make it time-limited. But Brussels has called it essential for preserving the bloc鈥檚 external border after Brexit.
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