May postpones Brexit showdown

LONDON: The British government on Thursday postponed Theresa May’s final Brexit showdown in parliament following an outcry over concessions that looked set to speed up the end of her tumultuous spell as premier.

The increasingly isolated Conservative premier is facing the prospect of being forced to resign without have achieved her mission to guide her fractured country out of the European Union after nearly 50 years of membership.

She had insisted on Wednesday that she would try to ram her version of Brexit through parliament on the fourth -- and what would be her last -- attempt in the week starting June 3. But the vote was not included on that week’s parliamentary schedule published Thursday.

Government whip Mark Spencer told lawmakers that May’s office "will update the House on the publication and introduction of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill on our return from the Whitsun recess" on June 4. May had earlier tried to win over politically ambitious holdouts within her own party by promising them she would step down after next month’s vote.