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No Brexit deal vote for MPs this week, but by March 12: May

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AFP London

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday that MPs would not have a chance to vote again on her Brexit deal this week but promised this would happen by March 12, reports said.

"We won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12," she told British media en route to a summit of European and Arab leaders in Egypt.

After MPs rejected her withdrawal deal last month, May is seeking ways to address their concerns about its most controversial element, the so-called Irish backstop clause.

May will hold talks on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit with other EU leaders and said her team would return to Brussels next Tuesday.

 

She has previously promised that if she cannot bring a revised deal back to the Commons this week, she will allow MPs on Wednesday to debate their own ideas for the way forward.

Three of her cabinet ministers on Saturday warned that if there was no breakthrough this week then parliament would vote to delay Brexit rather than risk leaving the EU with no deal.

"It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29," May said on Sunday.

She said delaying Brexit day "doesn't solve the problem. There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal that's been negotiated or not".

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First Published: Feb 24 2019 | 8:15 PM IST

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