May Under Pressure as MPs at War Over Leaving EU

As a new round of talks opens between Britain and the European Union, British Prime Minister Theresa May is under mounting pressure to take sides in the Conservative Party’s war over Brexit.

May has walked a fine line between two feuding factions: those who want a clean break, even if it means trade barriers with Europe, and those who want to keep Britain’s economy closely aligned to the 28-nation bloc, AP reported.

With just months to negotiate future relations before Britain leaves in March 2019, the tensions are coming to a head. British Sunday newspapers teemed with allegations of plots against May by “hard Brexit” rivals including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

The Sunday Times claims pro-Brexit lawmakers are prepared to topple May if she tries to keep Britain in the EU’s tariff-free customs union.

Brexit Secretary David Davis will meet his EU counterpart Michel Barnier in London on Monday for the first time this year, with officials from both sides continuing technical discussions during the week.

Speaking to the BBC, the prime minister said she had already spelled out what she wants from the deal and did not believe the UK would have to choose between Europe and the rest of the world.

“I don’t believe that those are the alternatives,” she said.

“What the British people voted for is for us to take back control of our money, our borders and our laws and that’s exactly what we are going to do.

“We also want to ensure that we can trade across borders.”