Another week, more UK jockeying over who controls Brexit

British Prime Minister Theresa May faces another bruising week in Parliament as MPs plan to challenge her minority Conservative government for control of Brexit policy.

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تاریخ: ۰۸ بهمن ۱۳۹۷ - ۱۱:۲۷

Amendments designed to change the course of Britain's planned March 29 departure from the European Union escalated the political jockeying. Several would delay the exit or make a Brexit without a divorce deal with the EU impossible.

EU citizens residing in Britain won't have to pay visa application fees, says British Prime Minister Theresa May, while opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn compares Brexit offers to 'groundhog day'.

The final lineup to be considered in the House of Commons is not expected to be announced until Tuesday, hours before the next Brexit debate and voting begins.

One of the key points in dispute is how to prevent a hard post-Brexit border that would bring back customs and identity checks between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.

Ireland has again warned May off any attempt to unravel the backstop.

Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister and deputy prime minister, insisted the backstop – the mechanism to ensure there will be no hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland if Britain and the EU fail to strike a free trade deal – was “part of a balanced package that isn’t going to change”.

Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said her party would support postponing Brexit day.

Sturgeon said the possibility of a second UK referendum on leaving the EU was not gaining traction in Parliament because of opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn's ambiguous position.

Voters supported Britain's withdrawal from the EU during a June 2016 referendum. Brexit opponents and others who have qualms about the process now underway have suggested holding another vote.

"It's incumbent on Labour to make its position on this clear," she said. "If it does, so then I do think there would possibly be a majority in the House of Commons."

May's Brexit divorce plan was soundly rejected by MPs two weeks ago. She is scrambling to gain more backing for the plan agreed with the EU, but some legislators are determined to force the government to slow the process and take "no-deal" off the table.

British newspapers have compared the confrontation with the EU to a game of chicken, with pro-Brexit papers predicting the EU will cave in to avoid a crash.