Parliament will wrest control of Brexit if PM fails to build consensus: UK lawmaker

Reuters
FILE PHOTO: MP Yvette Cooper attends a debate on PM Theresa May's Brexit 'plan B' in Parliament, in London, Britain, January 29, 2019. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May must find a way to build consensus in parliament over Britain's departure from the European Union, and if she fails to, parliament will try to take control of Brexit, a Labour Party lawmaker said on Monday. Yvette Cooper, an opposition party lawmaker who has led efforts to hand parliament more control over Brexit, said in a speech at the Centre for European Reform: "There are practical steps the prime minister can take now, not easy ones, but sensible ones - step by step to build more consensus around a way through this." "Now if she won't find a way through, then parliament has a responsibility to do so instead. And once again, we will be ready to work cross-party on amendments to do that." (Reporting by William James, writing by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)