1ST LEAD Britain's lower house backs Brexit bill; May still faces challenges By dpa correspondents
London (dpa) - Lawmakers in the British parliament‘s elected lower house approved Prime Minister Theresa May‘s EU withdrawal bill late Wednesday, after rebels in her Conservative party warned that she faces stronger opposition in the upper house.Members of the House of Commons approved the bill, which assimilates EU legislation into English law, by 324 to 295 votes.But several pro-EU Conservative lawmakers warned May during the two-day debate ahead of Wednesday‘s vote that she faces a much tougher task to push the bill through parliament‘s upper house, the Lords, without significant amendments.Pro-EU Conservative Justine Greening, a former education minister, also warned May that "if Brexit doesn‘t work for young people in our country, in the end it will not be sustainable.""When they take their place here [in parliament] they will seek to improve or undo what we‘ve done and make it work for them," Greening said."So we do absolutely have a duty in this house to look ahead and ensure that whatever we get is sustainable and works for them."In the 2016 referendum, Britons voted 52 to 48 per cent to leave the European Union.May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which allows a nation to leave the EU after up to two years of negotiations, in March last year; Britain is now due to leave the bloc in March 2019.At the European Parliament in Strasbourg earlier Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Brexit was a "catastrophe" that will not benefit Britain or the EU."I am of the opinion that, in the matter of Brexit, there will be no winners. This is a lose-lose situation, both for the Brits as for the members of the European Union," Juncker said at a plenary session of the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg.He described Brexit as a "defeat" that both sides had to take responsibility for."As [British Prime Minister Theresa] May said herself, the Brits never felt comfortable in the EU and for 40 years they were not given the opportunity to feel more comfortable. And that is why many are to blame," Juncker said.On Tuesday, Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk had said that Brexit was not a done deal and the British people could still change their mind."Even after the Brits have left, under Article 50 [of the EU‘s treaty], there is still an Article 49 that allows re-entry," Juncker added Wednesday.