London, Jan 17 (IANS) The UK Parliament will vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s “Plan B” for Brexit on January 29, the Leader of House of Commons said on Thursday.
Andrea Leadsom told lawmakers that the Prime Minister would put forward a motion and make a statement to the lower chamber on what her next steps would be on January 21, Efe news reported.
“A full day’s debate on the motion will take place on January 29, subject to the agreement of the house,” she told the Parliament.
Leadsom spoke as May met with lawmakers and opposition leaders for cross-party consultations, urging them to “put self-interest aside” and “work constructively together” to find a way forward for Brexit, following her slim victory in a no-confidence vote.
On Tuesday night, MPs voted against May’s plans for Brexit by a historic margin: 432 votes against to 202 in favour — the largest defeat for a sitting government in history.
May is currently trying to resolve a political deadlock set up by her antagonists, both from the hard-Brexit and anti-Leave camps.
One of the demands is that May should rule out any possibility that the UK might crash out of the European Union (EU) in March without any deal in place.
Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29.
In a statement in Downing Street shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, May had said: “It will not be an easy task, but MPs know they have a duty to act in the national interest, reach a consensus and get this (Brexit) done.”
The Prime Minister said she wanted to approach the discussions in a “constructive spirit”.
May is expected to hold meetings with both Conservative Brexiteers and the DUP on Thursday.
May has scheduled meetings with Scottish nationalists, Welsh nationalists and pro-EU Liberal Democrats.
The Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru all spoke with Theresa May on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Last night’s offer of talks with party leaders turned out to be simply a stunt, not the serious attempt to engage with the new reality that is needed.”
“I say to the Prime Minister again – I am quite happy to talk but the starting point for any talks about Brexit must be that the threat of a disastrous no-deal outcome is ruled out, taken off the table, and we can talk about the future of the plans that we will put forward and the future relationship with Europe,” he added.
–IANS
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