For several hours on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May, despite looming threats of a no-confidence vote, cajoled her cabinet into backing a draft Brexit deal. The separation agreement now faces approval by the European Commission as part of the process established by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
Ultimately, May said, there was a “collective decision” to back the plan, rather than support alternatives, such as a no-deal Brexit, or abandoning the effort completely despite the referendum calling for such severance.
“The cabinet has just had a long, detailed and impassioned debate on the draft withdrawal agreement and on the outline political declaration on our future relationship with the European Union,” May, in a statement following the contentious debate, said. “I firmly believe that the draft withdrawal agreement was the best that could be...