A complete humiliation
May suffers worst defeat on record as Brexit deal turns to dust Labour calls no-confidence vote but PM says she will battle on No 10 refuses to rule out delaying exit, with EU prepared for new talks
THERESA MAY suffered the worst defeat in parliamentary history last night as her Brexit deal was rejected by a 230-vote margin that significantly raised the chance of Britain suspending Article 50.
The sheer scale of the loss, driven by a Tory rebellion of 118 MPS – the biggest on record – outstripped even the gloomiest government forecasts, and leaves Brexit in a state of paralysis.
The Government will today face a vote of no-confidence called by Labour after the EU Withdrawal Agreement was rejected by 432 votes to 202. With 163 MPS on the so-called “payroll” of government jobs, only 39 of Mrs May’s 154 backbenchers backed her deal.
However, the Prime Minister is expected to win the confidence vote after the DUP pledged support, with the country now facing political deadlock.
Refusing to resign, Mrs May told the Commons: “It is clear that this House does not support this deal, but tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what it does support.”
Mrs May promised to begin crossparty talks “in a constructive spirit”, but cautioned that proposals would have to be “genuinely negotiable and have sufficient support” if she was to take them back to Brussels. She added: “Every day that passes without this issue being resolved means more uncertainty, more bitterness and more rancour.”
Last night Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, warned Tory Eurosceptics that in defeating Theresa May’s deal they had “voted for a softer Brexit”.
Speaking after the vote, he told The Daily Telegraph: “There is now a risk of no Brexit happening and there is a greater chance of a much softer Brexit happening. This [Mrs May’s deal] was the best chance for a proper Brexit – and the European Research Group has voted against it.”
Government sources said that, while Mrs May would now talk to senior Labour MPS, she had no plans to deal directly with Mr Corbyn.
Labour last night demanded Mrs May agree to a permanent customs union with the EU as the price of its support for a new deal. Brexiteers said the Irish border backstop must be dropped.
With little hope of a compromise emerging imminently, Downing Street refused to rule out delaying Britain’s withdrawal from the EU as Brussels warned that “time is running out”.
The pound rose on the financial markets amid growing speculation that Brexit may be delayed, although investment banks advised customers to hold off making key investments in the UK. The Cabinet is understood to be split over the way forward, with Brexi- teers warning that any attempt to reach a compromise with Mr Corbyn would result in a “Brexit in name only”.
It emerged last night that Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, and Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, told business leaders in a private telephone call not to expect changes to the legal Brexit withdrawal text, only to the nonbinding EU political declaration.
Labour sources last night said that up to 100 of the party’s MPS would today publish a statement calling on their leader to pivot towards a second referendum, as the result was cheered by backers of a so-called “People’s Vote”.
Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, urged Mrs May to use the scale of the defeat as a “mandate” to force concessions from the EU, which is increasingly worried about a no-deal Brexit.
European leaders last night issued a series of statements saying that it was up to Britain to come forward with new proposals. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that Britain could now ask for a delay to Brexit.
Before beginning talks over her next steps on the Brexit negotiations, Mrs May must today face the no-confidence vote, which is expected to be at 7pm.
The DUP’S stated support for the Government means Mrs May should prevail unless Tory rebels either vote with Labour or abstain. But even should she win, Mrs May still faces the task of exacting concessions from the EU so significant that they can change the minds of more than 100 of her MPS, or receive Labour backing.
She will also have until Monday to come up with an alternative Brexit plan, demanded by a vote in Parliament last week, which would have to be put to a vote by the end of the month. Mr Corbyn said the “catastrophic” defeat made it clear that “no deal must be taken off the table and a permanent customs union must be secured”.
Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister remained “determined that she is going to deliver on the will of the British public by taking Britain out of the EU”.
Last night, Michel Barnier, Brussels’s chief negotiator, held a meeting of the EU Brexit steering group to discuss what would happen next. Downing Street refused to say whether Mrs May would travel to Brussels tomorrow.
Jean-claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said: “I urge the United Kingdom to clarify its intentions as soon as possible. Time is almost up.” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, appeared to suggest that Britain should abandon
Brexit as he said: “If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?”
Once again, John Bercow, the Speaker, played a major role when he declined to select amendments that could have helped Mrs May to win or at least to minimise her defeat. An amendment by Andrew Murrison that would have made the deal conditional on the backstop ending before 2022 was rejected, as was an amendment by Hugo Swire that would have given MPS a vote on whether to enter the backstop at all.
SHORTLY after 9am, an armed police officer walked into Downing Street with her submachine gun in one hand and a bag with two large boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the other.
Inside, No 10 officials were in dire need of a sugar hit. The numbers yesterday morning looked bleak, with whips privately estimating that 100 Tory MPS – equivalent to a third – were poised to vote against the Government.
In her hour of need, the Prime Minister turned to Michael Gove, who last year rejected the chance to become Brexit secretary because he had such serious reservations about the Prime Minister’s deal.
During an interview on Today on BBC Radio 4, Mr Gove channelled the brutal television series Game of Thrones as he attempted to defend the Prime Minister. “If we don’t vote for the deal tonight, in the words of Jon Snow, ‘winter is coming’,” Mr Gove said. In the television drama, cold winter heralds the arrival of an apocalyptic army of the frozen undead.
Cabinet began at 9.30am with MPS given what one described as a “lecture” about the importance of ensuring that there were no leaks. Within moments of it coming to a close shortly before midday, however, detailed accounts of the pivotal meeting emerged.
With ministers already resigned to Mrs May being defeated, Cabinet found itself bitterly divided over what should happen next.
Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, urged the Prime Minister to take no deal off the table. She warned that if the Prime Minister failed to do so, Parliament would do it for her, highlighting bids by former ministers Nick Boles and Oliver Letwin.
She was supported by David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, and David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister.
Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, also warned that a no-deal Brexit would have a “devastating” impact on the car industry because it would damage the “just in time” delivery of parts.
Some colleagues felt they had heard his arguments before. “It went on for some time,” one minister said.
Pro-european ministers called for the Prime Minister to hold a series of “indicative votes” in the Commons to establish which Brexit approach is backed by MPS. However, they faced a strong pushback by 10 ministers including Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Gavin Williamson, Andrea Leadsom, Chris Grayling, Liz Truss, Michael Gove and Damian Hinds.
They argued that taking no deal off the table would remove one of the main “incentives” for MPS to back the Prime Minister’s deal. “Support for the deal will diminish without it,” Mr Hinds is reported to have said.
The Prime Minister was also warned against reaching out to Labour in the wake of a historic Commons defeat.
Brandon Lewis, the chairman of the Conservative Party, is said to have warned that opening talks with Labour would backfire. “The party wouldn’t wear it,” he is reported to have said. An- Leadsom, Leader of the Commons, said that for the first time she now has serious concerns that there may be no Brexit at all. She warned that the amendment by Mr Boles, which could see Article 50 extended or revoked, is a “workable option”.
Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, urged the Prime Minister to stay even if she lost the vote. Mrs May told Cabinet that the Government is a “servant” of the people and must deliver on Brexit.
As Cabinet drew to a close, David Davis and Dominic Raab, former Brexit secretaries, and Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, presented an alternative Brexit deal at the British Academy. Mr Davis said that the Prime Minister’s warning that Brexit could be thwarted if her deal was voted down was “facile”, while Mr Raab hit out at “Eeyorish pessimism” around no deal. Mrs Foster claimed that the Irish backstop would do “violence to the Union”.
In the Commons, matters did not improve for the Prime Minister. John Bercow, the Speaker, opted not to select an amendment by Andrew Murrison, a Tory backbencher, which ministers believed could help stem the revolt.
The amendment would have required the Withdrawal Agreement to be changed to include an expiry date on the customs backstop of Dec 31 2021.
Instead, Mr Bercow chose just four amendments.
The Prime Minister picked Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, to open the final day of debate. Far from trying to win round Eurosceptic Tory MPS, he chose to challenge them head-on.
He said that the public will demand of MPS: “What are you playing at? What are you doing? You are not children in the playground, you are legislators.”
Mr Cox added: “We are playing with people’s lives.” He indicated that in the event of defeat, the Prime Minister will return a similar deal to the Commons. He said: “Whatever solution may be fashioned, if this motion were defeated and this deal defeated, this Withdrawal Agreement will have to return, in much the same form, with much the same content.”
Eurosceptic Tory MPS appeared to be unmoved. Julian Lewis, chairman of the defence select committee, made the briefest intervention at just 21 words as he invoked Margaret Thatcher. “Because Brexit should mean Brexit and no deal is better than this bad deal, I shall vote no, no, and no,” he said. Sir Bill Cash, a senior Eurodrea
THERESA MAY ‘[You do not support this deal], but the vote tells us nothing about what you do support’
JEREMY CORBYN ‘This Government has lost the confidence of this House and this country’
NICOLA STURGEON ‘This is a defeat of historic proportions for the Prime Minister and her Government’
SIR VINCE CABLE ‘This defeat is beyond what anyone imagined; it is the beginning of the end of Brexit’
ARLENE FOSTER ‘The House of Commons has sent an unmistakable message to the Prime Minister’
BORIS JOHNSON ‘When this deal is voted down, let us not continue to flog this dead horse’
sceptic MP, said the Prime Minister should resign if her deal is voted down.
He said Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister in May 1940 despite winning a vote because he had lost the confidence of Parliament.
Robert Halfon, a former Tory minister, said that he would vote for the first time against his Government, saying he could not justify handing £39billion to the European Union.
On the Remain side, Anna Soubry, a pro-european Tory MP, described the Prime Minister’s deal as “terrible”, while Justine Greening, a former education secretary, suggested Brexit will have to be delayed. Two Tory MPS – Andrew Selous, a former minister, and Neil Parish, chairman of the environment select committee – said that they had changed their minds and now back the deal.
Frank Field, an independent MP, said he will back the deal because he fears that if it is voted down, Brexit could be lost.
As the scale of the defeat became clear, the knives were out for Julian Smith, the Chief Whip. One minister accused Mr Smith of failing to speak to Tories because he was so focused on winning round Labour MPS. As Mrs May took her seat in the Commons ahead of her statement, her husband Philip looked on from the gallery. The last time he had attended the Commons to watch his wife was the day she won the vote of no confidence.
The chamber was crammed, with every MP intent on having their say. Tulip Siddiq, the heavily-pregnant Labour MP who delayed her caesarean to vote, entered the chamber in a wheelchair. The Prime Minister issued a stark warning to Tory MPS preparing to vote against her deal, describing it as a “historic” moment. “A vote against this deal is a vote for nothing more than uncertainty and division,” she said.
“If we act in the national interest and back this deal we can build a country that works for everyone. We each have a solemn responsibility to deliver Brexit. With my whole heart I call on this house to discharge this responsibility.”
In the end the Prime Minister was defeated by a record 230 votes. Despite 54 hours of debate over eight days, the Tory rebels were unmoved. The Prime Minister’s pleas, threats and warnings had fallen on deaf ears.
DOMINIC RAAB ‘The deal before us involves the most severe ... risks for our economy, our democracy’
DONALD TUSK ‘Who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?’
JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER ‘The risk of a disorderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom has increased’
GUY VERHOFSTADT ‘Now is the time to find out what UK parliamentarians want’
PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PM ‘An unordered exit would be catastrophic for the UK’
XAVIER BETTEL, LUXEMBOURG PM ‘Now we need a fast and clear plan on how to proceed’