Vulnerable May is at the weakest point of her premiership
Theresa May’s premiership is hanging by the threads after the British House of Commons voted down by 391-242 the Brexit withdrawal deal on Tuesday night. While the scale was less than the 432-202 margin in January, it was another historic defeat and Ms May could now lose control not just of the EU withdrawal process, but also her wider term of office.
Despite her last-minute shuttle diplomacy on Monday in Strasbourg, the accord she reached with the EU simply wasn’t enough to deliver victory on the central mission of her government. Ultimately, the fate of Tuesday’s big vote was sealed by the advice of Ms May’s own attorney general, Geoffrey Cox. He ruled the accords “reduced, but did not eliminate” the likelihood that the UK could remain, indefinitely, in the so-called backstop arrangements against its will.
