LONDON: Britain’s opposition Labour Party ramped up the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday, saying it will call a no-confidence vote if Parlia­ment rejects her Brexit deal on Dec 11.

May is battling to persuade sceptical British lawmakers to back the deal her government and the European Union reached last month. Rejecting it would leave the U.K. facing a me­ssy, economically damaging “no-deal” Brexit on March 29.

Labour Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said it’s “inevitable” that Labour will bring a motion of no-confidence in the government if Parlia­ment rejects the Brexit agreement.

“If she’s lost a vote of this significance after two years of negotiation, then it is right that there should be a general election,” Starmer told Sky News.

If May’s government lost a no-confidence vote, it would have two weeks to overturn the result with a new vote by lawmakers. If that failed, Bri­t­ain would hold a national election.

Politicians on both sides of Britain’s EU membership debate oppose the agreement May has struck with the bloc Brexiteers because it keeps Britain bound closely to the EU, and pro-EU politicians because it erects barriers between the U.K. and its biggest trading partner.

With opposition parties and dozens of the prime minister’s fellow Conservatives against the deal, May’s chances of winning the vote in Parliament appear slim.

But Environment Secre­tary Michal Gove said, “I believe that we can win the argument and win the vote.” “I know it is challenging,” he told the BBC on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2018