UK PM May holds Brexit talks; opposition dubs them a 'stunt'

British Prime Minister Theresa May was consulting opposition parties and other lawmakers Thursday in a battle to get Brexit back on track after surviving a no-confidence vote, talks that were branded a "stunt" by the main opposition leader.

Across the Channel, European Union countries were stepping up preparations for a disorderly British exit on March 29 after the U.K. Parliament rejected May's Brexit withdrawal deal. EU nations were spending millions, hiring thousands of workers and issuing emergency decrees to cope with the possibility that Britain will leave the bloc without an agreement to smooth the way.

British lawmakers threw out May's Brexit deal Tuesday, handing the prime minister the worst parliamentary defeat in modern British history.

 

The drubbing was followed by a no-confidence vote demanded by the opposition. May's minority Conservative government survived it on Wednesday night with backing from its Northern Irish ally, the Democratic Unionist Party.

The government confirmed that May will meet a Monday deadline to publish a Brexit Plan B, and that lawmakers will have a full day to debate it and, crucially, amend it on Jan 29.

May met Thursday with representatives from several of Parliament's feuding Brexit factions: Northern Ireland's compromise-rejecting Democratic Unionists, Euroskeptic "hard Brexit"-backing Conservatives, those urging Britain to hold a second EU membership referendum and supporters of a close economic relationship with the EU.

May claimed to be listening, but with such a wide range of views on Britain's future, she can't please all of them.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said he wouldn't meet with May until she took a no-deal Brexit "off the table."

"To get a deal that can command a majority in Parliament, Theresa May has to ditch the red lines and get serious about proposals for the future," Corbyn said during a speech to supporters in the English seaside town of Hastings.

"Last night's offer of talks with party leaders turned out to be simply a stunt, not the serious attempt to engage with the new reality that's needed." Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas, who met with May on Thursday morning, said the prime minister was "in a fantasy world" if she thought her Brexit deal could be transformed by Monday.