LONDON (NBC) – After her initial Brexit deal was voted down by Parliament, after surviving a no-confidence vote, Britain’s prime minister is trying to salvage a Brexit deal to leave the European Union.
U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May told lawmakers Monday that the only way to avoid a “hard” Brexit is for them to approve the deal her party negotiated with the European Union.
A hard Brexit would mean Britain would leave the European Union so it could control its borders and impose stronger immigration limits but would have to re-negotiate trade deals with each European country in the E.U., actions that economists call severely disrupting to trade.
May pressured lawmakers by saying the only alternative to her plan is ditching Brexit and remaining in the European Union. And she also said holding a second referendum on Brexit would undermine the people’s faith in the British democracy.
May also called delaying a decision that some lawmakers want as not abiding by the referendum that brought on Brexit, to begin with.
“I fear a second referendum would set a difficult precedent that could have significant implications for how we handle referendums in this country, not least, not least strengthening the hand of those campaigning to break up our united kingdom,” May said.
The United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union, deal or no deal, on March 29th.
May could negotiate an extension from E.U. leaders.
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