Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May claimed to have secured the breakthrough required to get her Brexit withdrawal agreement through a crunch vote in Parliament on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of the country's divorce from the EU.
However, with UK Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox confirming that the legal risk from the controversial Irish backstop "remains unchanged", her Conservative Party's hard-Brexiteers refused to back the so-called "improved" divorce arrangement, leaving Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) still precariously poised ahead of the March 29 Brexit deadline.
In a last-minute dash to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Monday night, May emerged alongside European Commission President Jean Claude-Juncker to declare that the UK and EU have agreed legally binding changes to the controversial Irish backstop clause to ensure any such arrangement would not be permanent.
The move was aimed at addressing the concerns of hard-Brexiteers in her own Conservative Party and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which provides her government with its majority in the House of Commons.
"MPs were clear that legal changes were needed to the backstop. Today we have secured legal changes. Now is the time to come together to back this improved Brexit deal," May said at a joint press conference with Juncker.
Brexiteers from within her party and the DUP had refused to comment if they feel the changes she has secured will be enough for them to vote in favour of the deal before they take full legal advice on the changes.
In his official advice as the country's chief legal advisor, Attorney General Cox said the extra assurances won by May do "reduce the risk that the United Kingdom could be indefinitely and involuntarily detained" in the backstop if talks on the two sides' future relationship broke down due to "bad faith" by the EU.
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However, he reiterated that the "legal risk remains unchanged" that if no such agreement can be reached due to "intractable differences", the UK would have "no internationally lawful means" of leaving the backstop without EU agreement.
The Brexit-backing European Research Group (ERG) within the Tory Party declared soon after that it will not be voting for the withdrawal agreement in the Commons later, in a major blow to May's leadership.
In a statement, the ERG said: "In the light of our own legal analysis and others we do not recommend accepting the government's motion today."
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