Politics
20:25, 10-Dec-2018
Theresa May to postpone UK Parliament vote on Brexit deal: reports
Updated
19:17, 13-Dec-2018
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British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to postpone a crucial vote in Parliament on whether to approve her Brexit deal, which is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, according to media reports.
"Two cabinet sources tell me vote being pulled – not, repeat not, yet officially confirmed," according to the BBC's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, on Twitter. A Financial Times reporter said an official close to the cabinet had confirmed it.
There is no official announcement yet. The prime minister is expected to make a statement at 1530 GMT titled "Exiting the European Union," said the Labour whip on Twitter.
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The decision to halt the vote came just hours after the EU's top court ruled that Britain could unilaterally withdraw its decision to leave the bloc on March 29.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said delaying the vote was a "desperate step".
"We have known for at least two weeks that Theresa May's worst of all worlds deal was going to be rejected by parliament because it is damaging for Britain," he said.
"Instead, she ploughed ahead when she should have gone back to Brussels to renegotiate or called an election so the public could elect a new government that could do so."
Pro-EU Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said if true, it was "a pathetic cowardice by a PM and government that have run out of the road and now need to get out of the way".