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LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May won a key vote on Brexit legislation early Tuesday, but she faces tough battles ahead in getting Parliament to support her vision for how the U.K. should exit the European Union after more than four decades.
Lawmakers voted 326-290 in favor of a bill designed to transpose more than 10,000 EU laws on to the U.K. statute book. The bill would come into effect on March 29, 2019, the day the U.K. is scheduled to leave the bloc and aims to prevent a legal vacuum once Britain leaves the EU.
However, critics argue the bill hands too much power to the prime minister and her cabinet because it allows them to alter laws without parliamentary approval.
The bill’s difficult journey through the early stages of parliamentary scrutiny — normally a formality — signal further hurdles along the line for May, who lost her party’s majority in an election gamble earlier this summer. While negotiations with the EU over Britain’s departure have reached an impasse over issues such as how much the U.K. owes the bloc as part of its divorce, a bigger issue for May could be getting a divided Parliament and country behind her negotiating aims.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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