UK's May Urges Lawmakers To Back Her Brexit Deal After Asking EU To Delay Withdrawal

LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2019) UK Prime Minister Theresa May called on lawmakers to support the agreement on the UK withdrawal from the European Union that her government has negotiated with the bloc, following her appeal to Brussels to delay the Brexit deadline until June 30.

On Wednesday, European Council President Donald Tusk received May's letter asking for the withdrawal deadline extension from March 29. Tusk subsequently said a short delay was possible but conditional on a positive vote on the withdrawal deal in the UK House of Commons.

"Parliament has done everything possible to avoid making a choice. Motion after motion and amendment after amendment have been tabled without Parliament ever deciding what it wants. All MPs have been willing to say is what they do not want. I passionately hope MPs will find a way to back the deal I have negotiated with the EU ... It is now time for MPs to decide," May said in her address to the nation, whose transcript was published on the UK government website.

May noted that the fact that parliamentarians had been unable to agree on the withdrawal, due to which the United Kingdom would not be able to leave with an agreement on March 29, was "a matter of great personal regret" for her.

The prime minister also argued that the public "have had enough" of infighting, "political games and the arcane procedural rows" among the lawmakers.

Moreover, May emphasized that she was not prepared to delay Brexit beyond June 30.

The House of Commons has twice rejected May's withdrawal deal. However, the lawmakers have also voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

In the wake of the defeats of the withdrawal agreement in parliament, the House of Commons speaker, John Bercow, blocked any new vote on the prime minister's version of the agreement unless it was resubmitted in a fundamentally different form. However, May has said that she was still planning to bring the deal for a new vote despite Bercow's claims.