Humiliated government facing vote of no confidence

Historic defeat as Commons rejects May’s deal

MPs have rejected Theresa May’s Brexit plans by an emphatic 432 votes to 202 in a historic vote that has thrown the future of her administration and the nature of the UK’s EU withdrawal into doubt.

The humiliating rebuff was delivered in the House of Commons just moments after the prime minister made a lastditch appeal for MPs to back the Withdrawal Agreement which she sealed with Brussels in November after almost two years of negotiation.

Jeremy Corbyn said the “catastrophic” defeat represented an “absolutely decisive” verdict by MPs on Mrs May’s handling of Brexit.

He announced he has tabled a motion of no confidence in the government, which will go to a Commons vote today and which could force an early general election if it wins the support of more than 50% of MPs.

His hopes of ousting the prime minister were, however, almost imediately undermined when the DUP’s Sammy Wilson said that the Unionist party would back Mrs May in her fight for survival.

And a spokesman for the European Research Group of eurosceptic Tories, chaired by Mr Rees-Mogg, confirmed that they too would back the government.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, meanwhile insisted a second European referendum was now the “only credible option” to avoid “untold damage to the economy and the prospects of future generations”.

Ms Sturgeon also demanded the prime minister stop the clock on Article 50 to “avoid any possibility of the UK crashing out of the EU on March 29 without a deal”.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell, who voted for the deal, conceded the result was “very disappointing” but said Mrs May had made clear “she will listen to the House and reach out across Parliament to try to find a way forward to deliver an orderly Brexit”.

The 118 Conservative rebels who voted against Mrs May’s deal included fervent Brexiteers like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg and former Brexit secretaries David Davis and Dominic Raab.

The 230-vote margin of defeat was by far the worst suffered by any Government in a meaningful division since at least the First World War and in normal circumstances would be enough to force a prime minister from office.

But Mrs May made clear she intends to stay on, setting out plans for talks with senior parliamentarians from parties across the Commons in the hope of finding “genuinely negotiable” solutions which she can take to Brussels.

The prime minister – who said she expected to survive Wednesday’s vote – has until January 21 to set out a Plan B, with the clock ticking on the scheduled date of Brexit in just 73 days’ time, on March 29.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who had cancelled travel plans in order to be in Brussels for the aftermath of the vote on Wednesday, voiced “regret” at the defeat of what he termed “the best possible deal”.

He said in a statement: “The risk of a disorderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom has increased with this evening’s vote.”

In a statement to the Commons immediately after her drubbing, the prime minister told MPs: “The House has spoken and this government will listen. It is clear that this House does not support this deal, but tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what it does support.”

She said she would consult with Conservative colleagues, her Democratic Unionist Party allies and senior parliamentarians from across the Commons to identify “what now is required to secure the backing of the House”.

The PM promised to approach the talks “in a constructive spirit”, but cautioned that proposals would have to be “genuinely negotiable and have sufficient support in this House” if she was to take them back to Brussels to “explore” with the EU.

Mr Corbyn, however, told the Commons: “She cannot seriously believe that after two years of failure, she is capable of negotiating a good deal for the people of this country. On the most important issue facing us, this government has lost the confidence of this House and this country.”

And as the historic vote took place, noisy crowds of pro- and anti-Brexit protesters in Parliament Square could be heard inside the Palace of Westminster.

In the wake of the decision, new research by campaigners for second referendum was made public, revealing a clear majority of British people now want a so-called “People’s Vote”.

“The risk of a disorderly withdrawal of the UK has increased”

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