May wins major test in parliament over government plan

British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative minority government secured lawmakers' backing for its legislative plans by a narrow margin Thursday, but only after making a sudden concession on abortion funding to stave off defeat.

The House of Commons voted by 323 to 309 to approve last week's Queen's Speech, which laid out the government's agenda for the next two years.

On Thursday, opposition parties proposed amendments which tested the discipline of May's supporters and the government had to make a concession on abortion rights, making funds available in England for women arriving from Northern Ireland for abortions, to avoid defeat.

Abortion is banned in Northern Ireland unless a woman's life or mental health is in danger, and hundreds of women a year travel to other parts of the UK to terminate pregnancies. They must pay for the abortions, as well as for travel costs.

Chancellor Philip Hammond interrupted his own speech in the Commons to hurriedly promise MPs that the need to pay for a private abortion would be scrapped – at an annual cost of £1 million.

Just hours earlier, the Department of Health had denied there was even a consultation into making the change, despite pressure to do so.

But several Conservative backbenchers had backed Labour MPs in calling for free terminations, threatening the Government with its first defeat, just one week into the new Parliament.

Other amendments challenged May’s stance on Britain's departure from the European Union, demanding that the country stay in the bloc's single market, and on austerity, criticising her for not investing in the economy.

Tory backbenchers warned more rebellions were on the cards, as Tom Tugendhat and Bob Neill vowed they would not stand by and allow the pursuit of a hard Brexit based on “ideology”, rather than the needs of the economy.

On the other hand, Labour’s split on Brexit was also laid bare when 49 of the party’s MPs defied Jeremy Corbyn, who had ordered his MPs to abstain, by backing a rebel motion calling for Britain to stay in the EU single market and customs union.

Corbyn’s amendment called instead for the “exact same benefits” to be achieved outside the single market, mirroring the Government’s stance.

The revolt triggered the sackings of three Labour frontbenchers, with another resigning.