London, December 5 (RHC)-- The British government has been in contempt of the parliament by refusing to publish a full legal advice on a deal that outlines the terms of country’s withdrawal from the European Union, according to a parliament vote on Tuesday.

Lawmakers in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament, voted 311 to 293 in favor of a motion tabled by the main opposition Labour Party that said Prime Minister Theresa May's government had been in contempt by refusing to publish the full details of Attorney General Geoffrey Cox’s legal opinion on Brexit deal.

The vote is a fresh blow to May and her government as they try to go through the chamber with a Brexit deal that has faced huge criticism from either side of the political spectrum.

The parliament will vote on the Brexit deal next Tuesday, December 11. May and her ministers have been travelling across the UK to force the public to persuade their lawmakers that the deal is the best for Britain as it plans to leave the EU in March.

Andrea Leadsom, a senior Conservative Party lawmaker, said on Tuesday that the government will publish the full legal advice on Brexit after the vote on contempt.

May’s government had refused to release the document by saying that it would be in the interests of the public in Britain not to know the technical details that might cause controversy.  However, the Labour Party had argued that the lawmakers should become familiar with all the details before they vote on the Brexit deal.

A main bone of contention has been the issues related to an option in the Brexit deal that is related to Northern Ireland and its future status in EU’s customs union.

May’s opponents say the so-called backstop, if triggered to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, would enable the EU to include the British province in its customs union for an indefinite period of time.