UK’s Teresa May Survives Confidence Vote

Despite swiling controversy over Brexit, UK Prime Minister Theresa may withstood a challenge to her party leadership Wednesday night. The beleaguered leader was unable this week to find support for a Brexit plan, but Conservative members are willing to give her another go.

AP News has more:

On Wednesday evening, May survived a vote on her leadership from Conservative lawmakers by 200-117. The victory gives her a reprieve in that her own party can’t have a confidence in her leadership for another year, but the size of the rebellion underscores the unpopularity of her Brexit plan.

The vote confirms May’s reputation as a dogged, determined political survivor. But now comes the more formidable task — seeking changes to the withdrawal agreement that can win support in Britain’s Parliament.

May’s Brexit Secretary, Stephen Barclay, told the BBC that there were signs of “positive” movement from the EU on the one issue that has proved the most intractable — the provisions designed to prevent the re-implementation of physical border controls between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU.

Under this so-called “backstop,” the U.K. would remain part of the EU customs union if the two sides couldn’t agree on another way to avoid a “hard border.” Lawmakers from all sides of the political spectrum don’t like the backstop because the U.K. couldn’t leave the arrangement without the EU’s consent.