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The government of British Prime Minister Theresa May has signed a Brexit deal with the EU. Now May will try to get the deal through the U.K. Parliament, which must agree in order for the Brexit process to move forward. Max Colchester and Laurence Norman report at The Wall Street Journal:
European Union leaders approved on Sunday a treaty outlining divorce terms with the U.K., a milestone in Britain’s bid to extract itself from the bloc that now leaves Prime Minister Theresa May with a tough task selling the deal to skeptical lawmakers in Parliament.
Since Britons voted to break from the EU more than two years ago, both sides have been in negotiations to resolve conflicting objectives. Mrs. May’s government has sought to end freedom of movement of EU citizens to the U.K. and end the role of EU law in Britain, while the EU has insisted the price for that is a more distant economic relationship that would inhibit the current free flow of trade.
The focus now shifts to London, where Parliament is expected to vote on the deal in December and where dozens of Mrs. May’s fellow Conservative Party lawmakers, as well as some members of the opposition Labour Party, have trashed the deal.
Brexit, as it is widely known, has broadly divided British politics and the citizenry: Some lawmakers want to remain inside the bloc, others want to retain close ties even after Brexit, while another group, mostly Conservatives, wants a more decisive break even if it comes at economic costs. The result: a negotiated compromise that has been strongly criticized across the political spectrum.
Read more here.