May clings on despite a second humiliating defeat
Brexit delay looms after PM fails to win approval for revised Withdrawal Agreement May expected to vote against no deal as she fails to whip MPS, to the fury of Leavers Downing St insists resignation is not on the cards as Cabinet holds crisis talks
THERESA MAY is today set to vote to block a no-deal Brexit after she suffered another humiliating Commons defeat which left her fighting for her Premiership.
MPS voted by 391 to 242 to reject a revised version of the EU Withdrawal Agreement – a majority of 149 – after the Attorney General warned MPS that he could not guarantee that Britain would be able to escape the Northern Irish backstop.
The defeat – the fourth worst suffered by a British government – paves the way for a series of votes this week which are set to block a no-deal Brexit and delay Britain’s exit from the EU.
The apparent decision by Mrs May to vote against no-deal follows her repeated insistence over the past two and a half years – and a manifesto pledge – that no deal was better than a bad deal. In Parliament after the defeat, she even appeared to refuse to accept her deal was dead, potentially setting the scene for a third meaningful vote before the end of the month.
The Prime Minister offered Tory MPS a free vote on the issue of whether to take no deal off the table, to the fury of Brexiteers, and she is now braced to face growing calls to step aside.
However, Downing Street insisted that there had been no discussions about Mrs May resigning.
Mrs May told MPS she “profoundly” regretted their decision, which meant the Commons now faced “unenviable choices” of whether to revoke Article 50, hold a second referendum or leave “with a deal, but not this deal”.
EU leaders warned Mrs May that they would not continue to renegotiate her deal as MPS sought to seize control of the Brexit process. Brexit now seems certain to be delayed, with a vote on extending Article 50 expected tomorrow.
MPS from all parties scrambled to table amendments to the no-deal vote to wrestle control of Brexit from Mrs May.
Her decision to allow a free vote prompted a furious backlash from Eurosceptics, who pointed out that keeping no deal on the table was a manifesto commitment.
The Prime Minister appeared to confirm that she would join those voting to block no deal, telling the Commons she had “personally struggled with this choice” and “passionately believes” that leaving the EU with a deal was best for the country.
Nigel Dodds, the DUP’S Westminster leader, said Mrs May’s decision was “totally self-defeating” and “utterly counter-productive” because the EU would only offer a worse deal once the threat of no deal was off the table. He accused Cabinet ministers who threatened to resign if they were not given a free vote – Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark – of “undermining” the Prime Minister.
Last night’s defeat was less severe than the 230-vote margin when the deal was first put to a vote in January, but it meant Mrs May had only persuaded 39 Tory MPS and one Labour MP to change their minds.
Her own leadership is now under severe pressure as she runs out of options for breaking the Brexit deadlock.
One of Mrs May’s closest allies urged her to call a general election to end the impasse because she “can’t govern” with a minority government that is “not fit for purpose”.
It came after another day of high drama in Parliament as Mrs May’s revised deal – announced with fanfare in Strasbourg on Monday night – was holed below the waterline when Geoffrey Cox, her Attorney General, failed to give it his unequivocal blessing.
The pound fell by 1.1 per cent against the dollar within minutes, the biggest fall since December.
Jacob Rees-mogg, leader of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tories, described it as “a rotten deal” and joined the 75 Tory MPS voting against it. He is one of 13 Tory and DUP MPS who tabled an amendment to tonight’s vote calling on Britain to leave with no deal on May 22, before a “standstill period” until the end of 2021 to allow a trade deal to be negotiated.
Mrs May was accused of “substantial trickery” in the wording of the govern- ment motion that MPS will vote on to- night, which calls on MPS to “decline to approve” leaving the EU without a deal, but at the same time recognises that “leaving without a deal remains the de- fault in UK and EU law unless this House and the EU ratify an agreement”.
Meanwhile, Mrs May was urged by members of her Cabinet to put her deal to a third vote next week in the hope that Brexiteers felt they had no choice but to back it once no deal was off the table and a delay to Brexit loomed.
The Chancellor will use his Spring Statement today to encourage MPS to block no deal, telling them that a multibillion pound windfall from increased tax receipts would be at risk in the event of a no-deal Brexit.