Britain's PM Theresa May vows to fight leadership challenge

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Wed, 12 Dec 2018 - 12:34 GMT

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Wed, 12 Dec 2018 - 12:34 GMT

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Britain February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Britain February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

British Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to fight the no-confidence vote triggered by Conservative Party lawmakers after Britain’s planned divorce from the European Union was plunged into further chaos.


May said on Wednesday she will contest the confidence vote in her leadership “with everything I’ve got”, adding that changing course now could derail the Brexit process.

Any incoming leader would have to extend the March 29 deadline for Britain’s exit from the European Union, she said.

“A new leader wouldn’t be in place by January 21 legal deadline, so a leadership election risks handing control of the Brexit negotiations to opposition MPs in Parliament,” May said.

“A new leader wouldn’t have time to re-negotiate a withdrawal agreement and get the legislation through Parliament by March 29, so one of their first acts would have to be extending or rescinding Article 50, delaying or even stopping Brexit when people want us to get on with it,” she said.

"Weeks spent tearing ourselves apart will only create more divisions," May said in a statement delivered outside her Downing Street office, adding: "I stand ready to finish the job."

May: 'I will contest that vote with everything I've got'
Deal or no deal?

With less than four months left until the United Kingdom is due to exit on March 29, the world’s fifth largest economy was tipping towards crisis, opening up the prospect of a disorderly no-deal divorce or a reversal of Brexit through a referendum.

Graham Brady, the chairman of the party’s so-called 1922 committee, said the threshold of 15 percent of the parliamentary Conservative Party seeking a confidence vote had been exceeded. A ballot will be held between 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday and an announcement made as soon as possible afterwards, he said.

Brexit is Britain’s most significant political and economic decision since World War II, though pro-Europeans fear it will divide the West as it grapples with the presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.

The ultimate outcome will shape Britain’s $2.8 trillion economy, have far reaching consequences for the unity of the United Kingdom and determine whether London can keep its place as one of the top two global financial centres.

May could be toppled if 158 of her 315 lawmakers vote against her.

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