“It’s time for Parliament to make a decision,” Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay told the BBC. “The country needs to move forward. Business needs to have certainty.”In reality, May has run out of options. She opened talks with Labour seven weeks ago, arguing that nothing else had worked. Her Conservative Party was furious. But the talks didn’t deliver a breakthrough, and it was never clear that they could deliver a majority.
Instead, in the week of June 3, while Donald Trump is in the U.K. on his state visit, she’ll put before Parliament the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which would write her deal into law. The government said this was “imperative” if the bill was to pass before Parliament goes on vacation in July.The WAB, as it’s known, has been repeatedly postponed since last year, as May has tried to find a majority in Parliament for her deal. She has failed three times to get the House of Commons to support it.
In reality, it would almost certainly mean a new prime minister. Even May, who has survived so many bruising defeats, would struggle to argue she should stay on as Conservative leader if her deal is voted down.May set out her plan to Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn in an hour-long meeting in Parliament on Tuesday evening. He told her that Labour wouldn’t back the bill without a formal agreement, according to a person familiar with their discussions.