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UK PM delays final parliament vote on Brexit deal

British Prime Minister Theresa May arrives to the International Congress Center on February 24, 2019, ahead of first joint European Union and Arab League summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. ( AFP photo)

British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that a meaningful vote in the parliament on her European Union (EU) withdrawal agreement will not be held next week as it had been expected by the British lawmakers.

May said on Sunday that no parliamentary vote would be held on her Brexit deal until March 12 when Britain will have just over two weeks before the March 29 deadline to leave the EU.

“My team will be back in Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that, we won’t bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week, but we will ensure that that happens by 12 of March,” said May as she was departing for a meeting of EU and Arab leaders in Egypt.

The announcement comes amid increasing criticism that May is trying to delay the vote in the House of Commons as long as she can in order to force the lawmakers to either accept the agreement or face the prospect of a disorderly withdrawal from the EU.

The British premier has repeatedly indicated that Britain will leave the EU at the end of March regardless of what happens in the parliament.

The Commons had expected May to submit a revised version of her Brexit deal to the chamber next week.

The agreement, signed off by the EU in November, was defeated with a historic majority in an original vote of parliament on January 15 mainly out of concerns that a clause in the agreement which sets out rules for future administration of the Irish border would cause huge problems for the UK after Brexit.

May, whose demands for changes to the co-called Irish "backstop" clause have been rejected by the EU, expressed hope on Sunday that the deal would finally go through the parliament.

“Parliament wants to see changes to the backstop. We have been working with the EU on that. Our focus is on leaving with a deal. My intention is to work with a deal,” she said.


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