British PM May wins confidence vote

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May won a confidence vote in the British parliament on Wednesday before proposing immediate talks with other party leaders in an attempt to break the deadlock on a Brexit divorce agreement.

Lawmakers voted 325 to 306 that they had confidence in May’s government, just 24 hours after handing her Brexit deal a crushing defeat that left Britain’s exit from the European Union in disarray.

With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the United Kingdom is now in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.

After the results of the confidence vote were announced to cheers from Conservative lawmakers, May said she believed parliament had a duty and a responsibility to find a solution that would deliver Brexit.

“We will continue to work to deliver on the solemn promise we made to the people of this country to deliver on the result of the referendum,” May said.

“I would like to invite the leaders of parliamentary parties to meet with me individually, and I would like to start these meetings tonight.”

If May fails, the United Kingdom could face a disorderly “no-deal” Brexit, a delay to Brexit, or even another referendum on membership. Some critics said she was not budging from the deal that had alienated all sides in parliament.