May faces backlash over new Brexit proposal

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s new Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) sparked more opposition on Wednesday from inside and outside her own party following stalled Brexit discussions. The bill introduced on Tuesday offers new guarantees for workers’ rights, environmental protection, and a promise to allow lawmakers to consider holding a new Brexit referendum if they back her proposal. Lawmakers will vote on the deal on June 3. Parliament has already voted down May’s proposal three times. The European Union gave Britain until Oct. 31 to finalize the exit process. In a statement Tuesday, May said she introduced the new bill after six weeks of talks with the opposition Labour Party failed to yield a compromise.

May told lawmakers in March she will step down earlier than her initial 2022 timeline if they backed her proposal. But several lawmakers from her Conservative Party were absent during her Cabinet address on Wednesday, signaling a fresh revolt against her leadership. Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative lawmaker, told Reuters that May can no longer handle Brexit. “The proposed second reading of the WAB is clearly doomed to failure so there really is no point wasting any more time on the prime minister’s forlorn hope of salvation,” he said. “She’s got to go.”

Lisa Nandy, a Labour lawmaker, say May’s offer in her new deal was “very weak,” adding, “What she seems to be offering is for Parliament to go round the same track that we have been round before.”