UK lawmakers back government timetable to trigger EU divorce talks by end of March

Part of a pro-Brexit protester's placard is held up outside the Supreme Court on the third day of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London, Britain December 7, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers voted by 461 to 89 on Wednesday to back the government's plan to begin divorce talks with the European Union by the end of March. The opposition Labour Party put forward a motion calling on the government to set out its plan for leaving the European Union before it triggers Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to begin the formal exit process. The government accepted the motion, but in return asked that lawmakers respect the result of the referendum and support its Brexit timetable. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by Elizabeth Piper)