British Prime Minister Theresa May narrowly avoided a defeat in parliament at the hands of pro-EU lawmakers from her own party on Tuesday, fending off a rebellion that had threatened to deepen a crisis over her Brexit strategy.
Parliament voted 307 to 301 against an amendment to trade legislation in a vote that had been closely followed by currency markets, and was seen as a test of May’s ability to deliver a British exit from the European Union and keep her job.
The amendment would have required the government to try to negotiate a customs union arrangement with the EU if, by January 21, 2019, it had failed to negotiate a frictionless free trade deal with the bloc.
Sterling rebounded from the day’s lows against the dollar after the government sidestepped defeat on the amendment.
But there was no guarantee the matter of retaining a form of customs union – which pro-EU MPs see as vital to preserving industrial and commercial supply chains – would not resurface.
Tuesday’s legislation was technical in nature – focusing on converting trade deals between the EU and third countries into bilateral deals with Britain, and was not originally intended to define new trade policy.
However,…
