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May Under Pressure to Quit, Pushing Pound Lower: Brexit Update

Theresa May is under pressure to ditch her Brexit deal and quit as prime minister after a final attempt to win over members of Parliament backfired. The government publishes the draft law on Wednesday.

Read more: May to Face Pressure to Abandon Vote on Brexit Law and Resign

May answers Prime Minister’s Questions, then makes statement to Parliament on her new Brexit plan. Committee of rank-and-file MPs meets later Labour, DUP and pro-Brexit Tories condemn her deal; Tory leadership candidates including Boris Johnson also reject it Environment Secretary Gove doesn’t confirm her deal will definitely go to a vote Brexit Party polls at 37% ahead of EU elections with Tories on just 7% Pound falls for a record 13th day
Brexiteer Ministers Shun PMQs (12:30 p.m.)
May can usually count on a number of senior Brexit supporters in her Cabinet to show up to support her in Prime Minister’s Questions. Right now, only newly promoted Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt is on the government front bench.

Other Cabinet Brexiteers, including Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove and Liam Fox are nowhere to be seen.

It’s not the backing May will have wanted less than 24 hours since she made her bold new Brexit offer.

Wednesday afternoon’s regular session of prime minister’s questions is usually the highlight of Parliament’s week. It’s often hard for MPs to find a seat. Today, there are a lot of free spaces on the Tory party’s green benches behind May. That’s another clear sign she’s losing support.

Disgruntled Cabinet Ministers Meet, BBC Says (11:50 a.m.)
A group of cabinet ministers who have had concerns over May’s handling of Brexit are meeting in Westminster, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg reported.

The group of Brexiteers, known as the Pizza Club, included Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom when it started meeting last year.

Tories, Brexit Accused Over British Steel Liquidation (11 a.m.)
Labour accused Theresa May’s Conservatives of neglecting British industry as they fight over Brexit, after the High Court force British Steel — the U.K.’s second largest steelmaker — into compulsory liquidation.

“The Tories’ legacy will once again be industrial decline whilst they endlessly squabble over the European Union,’’ Labour’s business spokeswoman, Rebecca Long-Bailey, said in a statement. “The government must act quickly to save this strategically important industry and the livelihoods and communities of those who work in it, by bringing British Steel into public ownership.’’

The Unite trade union, which represents many of British Steel’s workers and bankrolls the Labour Party, said the “Brexit farce and ongoing uncertainty’’ had added to British Steel’s problems as it battled high energy prices and cheap imports.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said he was constrained by law over what he could do to help the company. “I have been advised that it would be unlawful to provide a guarantee or loan on the terms of any proposals that the company or any other party has made.”

Move to Change Tory Rules to Force May Out (10:30 a.m.)
Nigel Evans, a member of the executive of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, said he will force a vote at their meeting Wednesday in a bid to change rules so Theresa May can be forced out of office, the Times reported.

Current rules don’t allow Tory lawmakers to hold another vote of “confidence” in May until a year after the last one — in December.

Tin Loughton, another Tory MP, posted a photograph of a letter to committee Chairman Graham Brady on Twitter, indicating he also wants May to go.

ConservativeHome Urges Tories Not to Vote (9:40 a.m.)
The influential ConservativeHome website has urged Tory members not to vote in Thursday’s European Parliament elections if May “isn’t on the way out by the end of today.”

In an opinion article, editor Paul Goodman said the fact that the U.K. is even having to take part in the vote is a “raising of two fingers to the referendum result.”

The website calls for May’s departure to be accelerated, given that her deal now looks set to face a bigger defeat than it did at the end of March.

Gove Refuses to Confirm Bill Will Go to Vote (Earlier)
Environment Secretary Michael Gove refused to confirm the government will definitely put its Withdrawal Agreement Bill to a vote in the House of Commons, calling on lawmakers to “reflect” on the draft law over the coming days.

“I think it’s important for all of us to just take a step back and consider what the options are,” Gove told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday. He was asked repeatedly whether the vote would go ahead the week of June 3.

Gove was also asked about calls on May to resign immediately after the results of European Parliament elections are known on Monday. The minister said May has his full support, and predicted she’d still be prime minister on Tuesday.

But as attention turns to the Tory leadership, Gove praised Boris Johnson, the front-runner to replace May, describing him as having “flair” and having served as foreign secretary with “distinction.” It’s quite the U-turn for Gove, who quit Johnson’s campaign in 2016 to stand as a rival.

Starmer Urges May to Cancel Vote on Brexit Bill (Earlier)
After opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn described May’s new Brexit offer as a “rehash,” Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer called the package “too weak” and heading for a “heavy loss” when it’s put to vote in Parliament.

“In reality, the prime minister ought to now admit defeat and I think she would do well to just pull the vote and pause, because this is going nowhere,” Starmer told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday.

Earlier:
What Brexit? England’s Top Soccer Teams Score With Foreign Labor Tory Grandee Patten Calls Johnson ‘Mendacious’ and ‘Incompetent’ Brexit Is Delayed and the Drama Is Just Starting: QuickTake

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