British PM Theresa May fails to win over her party ahead of Brexit vote

In a last-ditch bid to plot an orderly path out of the Brexit maze days before the United Kingdom is due to leave, May rushed to Strasbourg on Monday to agree legally binding assurances with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

UK's Theresa May tells EU 'just one more push' as new Brexit votes loom — UK PM Theresa May. (File photo)

Britain’s exit from the European Union hung in the balance on Tuesday after Prime Minister Theresa May’s newly won assurances on her divorce deal failed to win over the main Brexit faction in her Conservative Party hours before a vote in parliament.

In a last-ditch bid to plot an orderly path out of the Brexit maze days before the United Kingdom is due to leave, May rushed to Strasbourg on Monday to agree legally binding assurances with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

But Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said in a written opinion the assurances left the legal risk of the United Kingdom being locked in the bloc’s orbit after Brexit, the most controversial issue for Brexit-supporting lawmakers.

“The legal risk remains unchanged,” Cox said. “However, the matter of law affecting withdrawal can only inform what is essentially a political decision that each of us must make.”