UK’s weakened government passes first vote since election
LONDON — Britain’s Conservative minority government passed its first test in Parliament since an election wiped out its majority, with lawmakers Wednesday narrowly rejecting an opposition demand for an end to public spending cuts.
The House of Commons voted 323 to 309 against a call by the main opposition Labour Party for a pay raise for public-sector workers and the reversal of cuts to police and firefighting budgets.
The vote was the first faced by the government in Parliament since the June 8 election. It came after several days of debate on last week’s Queen’s Speech, which laid out the weakened government plans for the next two years.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s government defeated Labour’s proposal with support from the 10 lawmakers of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party.