UK MPs pass bill delaying Brexit

LONDON

British lawmakers passed a bill late Wednesday forcing Prime Minister Theresa May to seek a further delay to the UK’s departure from the European Union in order to avoid a no-deal scenario.

The legislation -- also known as the Cooper Bill because it was proposed by Labour MP Yvette Cooper -- passed in a 313 to 312 vote.

The bill was rushed through all its stages in about six hours.

It will need to be passed by the House of Lords, however, and the extension would also have to be approved by the EU next week.

The move came on the same day that May and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn met to discuss ideas to break the Brexit impasse.

The two leaders will resume Brexit talks on Thursday, after both Downing Street and the Labour Party described initial talks as “constructive”.

“We have had constructive exploratory discussions about how to break the Brexit deadlock,” a Labour spokesperson said.

“We have agreed a programme of work between our teams to explore the scope for agreement.

“I put forward Labour’s alternative plan and raised the option of a public vote to prevent No Deal or leaving on a bad deal,” Corbyn said on Twitter.

“There wasn’t as much change in her position as I expected, but we'll have further discussions tomorrow,” he added.

However, Corbyn also came under pressure from his own party to raise with May a “confirmatory public vote” on any deal they might agree on.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has also expressed its demand for a confirmatory referendum.

May’s talks with Corbyn received a reaction from her own Conservative MPs, who defended an immediate leave without a deal instead of a softer version of Brexit.

Two junior ministers resigned from the government Wednesday in reaction to May’s latest strategy.

With the first extended Brexit deadline looming on April 12, May said Tuesday that the UK needs an additional short extension from the EU.

“So today I am taking action to break the logjam: I am offering to sit down with the Leader of the Opposition and to try to agree a plan -- that we would both stick to -- to ensure that we leave the European Union and that we do so with a deal.”

“We need to focus on…our future relationship with the EU,” May said.

“The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a Future Relationship that delivers on the result of the Referendum, that both the Leader of the opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and which I could then take to next week’s European Council” set for April 10.

May added that if “a single unified approach” cannot be reached, “then we would instead agree a number of options for the future relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue”.