LONDON -- Facing possible defeat in a vote looming in the House of Commons over her plan to leave the European Union, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday warned lawmakers they must honor the results of the 2016 referendum and deliver the EU exit to the people.
In a speech delivered to workers at a British pottery manufacturer in the town of Stoke-on-Trent, where two-thirds of the voters cast ballots to leave the European bloc, May told the rebels in her own Conservative Party that they faced a stark choice: either accept her imperfect but doable deal or cut ties with Europe with no deal at all, an option now favored by many of her fellow Tories, but which economists predict could inflict chaos and financial pain.
"With no deal, we would have no implementation period, no security co-operation, no guarantees for U.K. citizens overseas, no certainty for businesses and workers here in Stoke and across the U.K," the prime minister said.
Just an hour after her remarks, one of May's Conservative Party whips in Parliament, Gareth Johnson, whose job it is to wrangle votes for the prime minister's agenda, abruptly resigned. Johnson said he could not support May's half-in, half-out compromise deal, which he claimed "prevents us taking back control and instead could leave us perpetually constrained by the European Union." He was the 13th member of May's government to quit over the EU exit.
On the eve of today's vote in the House of Commons, lawmakers remained deeply unhappy with the terms of withdrawal agreement May spent two years negotiating in Brussels.
The opponents -- led by former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and former secretary in charge of the separation David Davis -- say May's accord condemns Britain to be a "vassal" of Europe, taking laws, but not writing them. The Euro-skeptics argue that the 585-page withdrawal agreement keeps Britain too closely aligned with European tariff rules and customs regulations and forestalls bigger, better trade deals around the world.
During a speech to Parliament on Monday, May urged skeptical lawmakers to think again.
"Whatever you may have previously concluded, over these next 24 hours, give this deal a second look," May said.
"No, it is not perfect. And yes, it is a compromise," she said. "But when the history books are written, people will look at the decision of this House tomorrow and ask: Did we deliver on the country's vote to leave the European Union?"
In response, the leader of the Labor Party Jeremy Corbyn said that nothing had changed since December, when May pulled the vote because it was facing defeat. He called on lawmakers to "reject a deal that is clearly bad for this country."
Parliament is divided between those who grudgingly support May's deal; those who want her to try to renegotiate it; those who want to leave now with no deal; and those who don't really want to leave Europe at all, but instead are pressing for a second referendum, a do-over, where the British people would be asked again -- knowing all they know now -- what they really want.
But May warned that "we would risk a subversion of the democratic process" if the EU departure is abandoned.
May again pledged that "we are leaving on the 29th of March," and that she did not want to extend the deadline, as many have urged, by extending or revoking Article 50, which dictates the time table.
But if May loses in the House of Commons today -- and keeps her job and goes back to Brussels to talk more -- a deadline extension is possible.
May long promised fresh assurances from Brussels, and on Monday she presented a letter from EU chiefs that she said bolstered her case that her withdrawal agreement was the "best deal possible" and "worthy" of lawmakers' support.
In their 5-page correspondence, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stressed that "we are not in a position to agree to anything that changes or is inconsistent with the Withdrawal Agreement."
But they did address the issue of the "Irish backstop," a guarantee that seeks to ensure that there is no hard border on the island of Ireland. Many of May's critics fear that it could lead to Britain permanently trapped in an EU customs union.
Tusk and Juncker wrote that they did "not wish to see the backstop enter into force," which would "represent a suboptimal trading arrangement for both sides."
They also said that the EU would work "as quickly as possible" to strike a new arrangement with Britain that would mean the backstop wouldn't kick in.
May said that the letters she and the EU leaders exchanged have "legal force," and "make absolutely clear the backstop is not a threat or a trap."
But the note didn't quiet May's critics, who said that the assurances were vague and didn't go far enough.
"The letter certainly isn't legally binding," Nigel Dodds, deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, told BBC. "The prime minister is going to struggle to justify what the delay was about."
A Section on 01/15/2019