Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
May facing defeat over Brexit deal
THERESA May is braced for a pote nt i a l l y c r ush i ng Commons defeat for her Brexit deal after an eleventhhour appeal for support apparently failed to win round critics.
On a historic day at Westminster MPs will finally deliver their verdict on the Withdrawal Agreement hammered out with Brussels this evening. With more than 100 Tory MPs having declared their opposition to the plan, there was speculation the government could go down to one of the heaviest defeats of modern times.
The Prime Minister has insisted she is focused on winning the vote – telling Conservative rebels yesterday evening they risked handing the keys of No 10 to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom insisted Mrs May was determined to continue fighting for her agreement in the best interests of the country.
“Anything that looks like that level of disruption would be incredibly bad – both for the country and for Brexit. So I think the Prime Minister will remain determined to deliver on this deal. Her purpose is to leave the European Union in line with what people voted for. She could not be clearer about that.”
The deal suffered its first official parliamentary defeat in the House of Lords last night as peers voted by 321 votes to 152 – a majority of 169 – to reject it. Mr Corbyn indicated he was finally ready to table a vote of no-confidence in the Government if it loses in the Commons.
“Don’t be concerned, it’s coming soon,” he told a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
It would appear unlikely Labour can muster enough votes to force a general election, with both Tory rebels and the DUP indicating they would continue to back the government in a confidence vote.
However, Downing Street has given little indication as to how the Prime Minister intends to proceed if she is defeated. Under the terms of an amendment passed last week, she must table a motion on her Plan B by Monday.