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REUTERS
LONDON
PRIME Minister Theresa May cannot accept a proposal to hand parliament more control over Brexit, her spokesman said on Tuesday, setting up a showdown with lawmakers who want the right to step in if Britain risks crashing out of the EU with no deal.
May has struggled to get backing for an EU withdrawal bill that would cut ties with the bloc. She tried to find a compromise last week with pro-EU lawmakers in her Conservative Party, but the arrangement fell through.
On Wednesday she will again try to head off a rebellion by pro-EU Conservatives over their demand for a"meaningful vote"on any Brexit deal.
The pro-EU Conservative lawmakers want parliament to be able to intervene before Britain's deadline to leave the EU by next March, if May's government either fails to negotiate a deal with Brussels, or if it reaches a deal that lawmakers reject.
The government says giving parliament too big a say would tie its hands in talks, and has offered instead to give parliament a vote on a statement on its next steps.
With no majority in the House of Commons, it take only a handful of Conservatives to vote against the government for May to lose.
