Britain PM Theresa May faces yet another embarrassing defeat
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LONDON: Britain’s upper house of parliament handed the government its third defeat over Brexit in less than a week on Monday, voting down plans not to retain EU rights in national law before Britain leaves the bloc.
The defeat is one of several Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government is expected to suffer in the House of Lords as parliament debates legislation which will enact Britain’s exit from the European Union in March next year.
The vote can be overturned by the lower house, the House of Commons, but shows the deep divisions over Brexit across the Houses of Parliament and could encourage lawmakers hoping to derail her plans.
The defeat — over ensuring the political, social and economic rights protected by the European Charter of Fundamental Rights are replicated in British law — follows a vote by the Lords that challenged her plan to leave the EU’s customs union.
Last week’s defeat, the first of two on that day, increased pressure on May to reconsider her refusal to remain in a customs union with the EU.
