Brexit: May faces more votes

London:uncertainty loomed over the UK after the House of Commons on Tuesday again defeated the EU withdrawal deal stitched together by Prime Minister Theresa May and her team.

With businesses increasingly alarmed over the impasse, developments in Westminster sent the pound south.

Carolyn Fairbairn of the Confederation of British Industry said it is “time for parliament to stop this circus…enough is enough. This must be the last day of failed politics. A new approach is needed by all parties. Jobs and livelihoods depend on it”.

The revised agreement package, reached in Starsbourg on Monday evening, was rejected in the House of Commons by 391 to 242; its previous version was resoundingly voted down in January. The continuing impasse threw up a range of options, including another referendum.

The House is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a motion whether the UK should leave the EU on March 29 with or without an agreement.

On Thursday, it will vote on seeking from the EU an extension of the Article 50 beyond the deadline.

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted that May’s deal has failed: “She no longer has the abil- ity to lead. This is a rudderless government in the face of a national crisis.”

The British press went to town with headlines on May’s defeat, with banner headlines, such as ‘Driven to despair’ (The Times), ‘May clings on despite a humiliating defeat’ (The Daily Telegraph) and ‘May loses control of Brexit after MPS throw out revamped deal’ (Financial Times).

May said after the defeat: “I profoundly regret the decision that this House has taken tonight. I continue to believe that by far the best outcome is that the UK leaves the EU in an orderly fashion with a deal, and that the deal we have negotiated is the best and indeed the only deal available.”