May sticks to Brexit deal as opponents seek formal challenge

British Prime Minister Theresa May vowed on Monday to stick to her draft European Union divorce deal as dissenting lawmakers in her own party tried to trigger a leadership challenge.

Since striking a deal with the EU on Tuesday, May has faced the most perilous crisis of her premiership with several cabinet ministers resigning, including her Brexit minister.

May has pledged to fight on, warning that toppling her risks delaying Britain’s exit from the EU, or leaving without a deal, a step that could thrust the world’s fifth largest economy into the unknown.

Even if she stays in place, the level of opposition from euro sceptics in her own Conservative ranks has made clear how hard it will be to get the deal through parliament.

“We have in view a deal that will work for the UK and let no one be in any doubt, I am determined to deliver it,” May said in a speech to Britain’s premier business lobby, the CBI, to loud applause. “We are not talking about political theory but the reality of people’s lives and livelihoods.

“While the world is changing fast, our geography is not: Europe will always be our most proximate goods market and ensuring we have free-flowing borders is crucial,” May said, citing the importance of the automotive industry in particular.

The EU is due to hold a summit to discuss the draft deal on November 25. Some euro sceptic ministers in May’s cabinet are reported to want to rewrite parts of it, though EU governments have largely ruled this out.

The EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, called the draft “fair and balanced” and offered the orderly exit in March that would form a basis for a future trade deal.

May said she wanted any Brexit transition, during which Britain will remain a member in all but name and voting rights, to have ended by the time of the next national election, due in 2022.

The EU has signalled it could accept Britain extending the transition by up to two years from December 2020.