May Fends Off Attempt to Keep EU Customs Union Option Open

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Theresa May fended off an attempt by pro-European Conservative rebels to keep open the option of Britain entering into a customs union with the European Union after Brexit.

May won a ballot in the House of Commons on Tuesday by 307 votes to 301 on the amendment -- tabled by rebels in her own Conservatives and backed by Labour. It would have forced the government to negotiate a customs union with the EU if it failed to broker a Brexit deal guaranteeing frictionless trade. She earlier lost a vote forcing her to keep Britain within the EU regulatory regime for medicines.

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