国际英语资讯:Roundup: Crunch time for British PM as Brexit talks enter decisive phase_时事

国际英语资讯:Roundup: Crunch time for British PM as Brexit talks enter decisive phase

Keir Starmer, Labour's top Brexit shadow secretary, has accused May of resorting to a desperate gimmick when she stipulated this month the precise moment Britain and the European Union will part company, 11 p.m. local time on March 29, 2019.

Starmer said it was more about Conservative party management rather than the national interest.

Critics of May also waited patiently to see the outcome of Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond's spending budget which was made public on Wednesday.

National newspaper political commentators were filled with columns about the so-called rift between May and Hammond. Hammond's budget was not the disaster some had feared, providing an unexpected boost to May's longevity as the occupant of Number 10.

Some commentators say May's decision to call a snap general election in June may go down in history as one of the biggest blunders ever by a British prime minister.

Going into the election with a thin majority, she emerged heading a minority government, with support from the Northern Ireland-based Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to prop up her numbers.

Weakened, but not defeated, May has soldiered on, heading into the next big hurdle, the start of the journey of the Brexit bill through the Houses of Parliament.

Politicians, scrutinizing the crucial piece of legislation line by line, tabled over 400 amendments. Now into its second week of debates, May has survived the challenges so far made, but there are tough times ahead with reports some of her own MPs will rebel and vote against her.