May bows to Brexit pressure, accepts customs Bill changes

London, July 16

British Prime Minister Theresa May bowed to pressure from Brexit supporters in her Conservative Party on Monday, accepting their changes to a customs Bill that underpins Britain’s departure from the European Union.

May, vulnerable in Parliament after losing her party’s majority at an ill-judged election last year, has come under fire from both wings of her party over a hard-won Brexit plan, with one ex-minister calling it the “worst of all worlds”.

Eurosceptic lawmakers had targeted her government's customs legislation to try to toughen up her plans to leave the EU, but instead of facing them down and fuelling tensions, her spokesman said the government would accept their four amendments.

It was not clear the move would fundamentally change her plans — the changes do little more than to put government policy into law, her spokesman said — but it was a victory of sorts for those lawmakers who say May has betrayed them on Brexit, the biggest shift in British trade and foreign policy for decades.

The spokesman said the move to accept those amendments were “consistent” with the white paper policy document ministers agreed earlier this month. — Reuters