by Xinhua writer Gu Zhenqiu
LONDON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday survived a crucial test over Brexit as lawmakers in the House of Commons, the lower parliament chamber, voted 319 to 303 to reject an amendment which May said was designed to tie the hands of the government in Brexit negotiations.
The important victory came after Dominic Grieve, a leading pro-European Union Conservative lawmaker, changed his mind earlier Wednesday to support the governmental position on how to end Britain's EU membership.
"I am prepared to accept the government's difficulty and in the circumstances to accept the form of amendment it wants," Grieve told lawmakers, signalling a major position shift.
The vote is seen as a test to May's ability to lead minority government, which is also divided over Brexit.
The lower chamber did not support the amendment put forward by rebel Conservative lawmakers, signalling a termination of a potential rebellion that could have undermined May's authority.
The vote defeated an attempt to secure a "meaningful vote" in parliament that could have potentially given MPs the power to stop Britain leaving the EU without a deal.
Pro-EU Tories have threatened to rebel to ensure parliament is given a greater say in the case of a no-deal Brexit, however ministers are thought to be quietly confident of seeing off the uprising.
The latest confrontation emerged in the unelected House of Lords as the upper parliament chamber earlier voted 354 to 235 in favor of a plan that would allow British parliament to shape the government's next steps in case that lawmakers rejected the deal reached by May with Brussels in the Brexit negotiations, or if she simply fails to get such a deal.
The House of Lords, in voting for that plan, rejected a proposal from May's government to give parliament a symbolic vote on steps, known as a "meaningful vote," but which stopped short of giving lawmakers the power to force the government to change course over Brexit.
May insisted that parliament cannot be allowed to overturn Brexit or tie the government's hands in negotiations with EU.
At present, the government, ruling Conservative, and Parliament, just like the United Kingdom as a whole, remain divided between supporters of "hard" or "soft" Brexit.
Failure to win the parliament support for its Brexit plan would mean further troubles for several other contentious pieces of legislation needed to prepare for Brexit, including on such key issues as trade and customs policy.
In June 2017, May called the snap election in an effort to extend her majority and strengthen her hand in the looming Brexit negotiations, but her gamble backfired spectacularly.
Her Conservative Party won 319 seats in the House of Commons, landing seven seats short of a majority.
As a result, May has to form a minority government after reaching a deal with the Northern Ireland party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). With this support, the Conservatives, and the DUP, which has 10 seats in the lower chamber, together make up more than half the MPs in the House of Commons.
To lead a minority government is interpreted as one of May's political weaknesses.
May, who faced rebellion last week from pro-EU Conservative legislators, avoided an embarrassing defeat by promising Parliament would get a "meaningful vote" on the UK-EU divorce accord before Brexit officially kicks off next March.
However, Wednesday's victory does not iron out a row between the British government and lawmakers over the direction of Brexit. The challenge for Downing Street remains formidable as the government is in an uphill fight to carry out Brexit plan, which is a far cry from a consensus one year after the start of the UK-EU divorce talks.