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The votes on Monday were part of a remarkable power grab by lawmakers, frustrated by Prime Minister Theresa May’s failure to forge consensus around Brexit, as the process of extricating Britain from the European Union is known, and alarmed that the country could face a disorderly, economically damaging departure without any kind of deal by the deadline of April 12.
In the votes, which were nonbinding, lawmakers considered four plans. The failure to agree on any of them means Britain is facing the deadline with nothing resolved and all the options remaining on the table.
It also underscores the stalemate in Parliament where different factions appear unable to compromise enough to swing behind any one vision for Brexit.
Something will have to give soon, however. By April 10, Mrs. May needs to get a Brexit agreement through Parliament or ask the leaders of the European Union for a longer delay if she wants to avoid leaving without a deal.
The plan that lost most narrowly was for a customs union that would keep Britain in the same tariff system as the rest of the European Union countries, tying the country closely to the bloc. It failed 276-273.
Mrs. May’s own plan would be a starker separation. It would keep Britain in the European Union customs and trading system until at least the end of 2020, but eventually would have the country leave the customs union and single market, and assert control over immigration from continental Europe. [...]
Full article on New York Times
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