British PM holds crisis Brexit meeting

British PM holds crisis Brexit meeting

EU supporters participate in the 'People 's Vote' march in central London

Senior Conservative Party figures have urged Theresa May to recognize her political defeats and leave the prime minister’s post. However, there was no indication from Downing Street that the British prime minister was planning to step down.

By Stefan Bos

Some of her party’s principal supporters of a “hard” Brexit that would see Britain leave the European Union even without a withdrawal deal in place planned to meet with May on Sunday at the prime minister’s country residence.

May thus far has been unable to generate enough support in Parliament for the deal her government and the EU reached late last year.

Lawmakers voted down the Brexit plan twice, and May has raised the possibility of bringing it back a third time if enough legislators appear willing to switch their votes.

But it also comes amid signs that a growing number of British people do no longer support Brexit, even those voting yes in the referendum that sparked Britain's departure.

Anti-Brexit protesters flooded into central London by the hundreds of thousands on Saturday, demanding that Britain’s Conservative-led government hold a new referendum on whether Britain should leave the EU.

The “People’s Vote March” snaked from Park Lane and other locations to converge on the British Parliament, where the fate of Brexit will be decided in the coming weeks.

European Union Flags

Marchers carried European Union flags and signs praising the longstanding ties between Britain and continental Europe. The protest drew people from across Britain determined to force Prime Minister May’s government to alter its march toward Brexit. "The country is in a mess, brought on by our government, their incompetence," a protester said.

So far May remains determined to what she says is fulfilling the wishes of those who voted for Brexit in a referendum in 2016.

And Treasury chief Philip Hammond said Sunday that senior party members plotting to remove May were being “self-indulgent” as, in his view, a change of leadership would not provide a solution to Britain's political deadlock on Brexit.

But if May is unable to rally support for the withdrawal agreement among British legislators, European leaders have warned that Britain only has until April 12 to choose between leaving the EU without a divorce deal or a radically new path, such as revoking the decision to leave the bloc or calling another voter a referendum on Brexit.

Parliament may take a series of votes this week to determine what proposals, if any, could receive majority support.

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