LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May’s prospects of winning a crucial vote on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union were dealt a severe blow on Tuesday, when the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, said that last-minute pledges from the bloc did not fundamentally alter the legal status of the agreement.
Mr. Cox’s opinion is likely to be crucial in swaying the votes of pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers, so his views leave Mrs. May’s chances of winning the vote in Parliament scheduled for Tuesday evening hanging by a thread.
The defeat of Mrs. May’s plan could potentially throw Britain into a new period of political uncertainty, one that could lead to Parliament trying to take control of the process from the government in a further diminishing of Mrs. May’s shaky authority.
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