UK Prime Minister, Theresa May Brexit deal aborts as MPS vote against it

Britain was plunged into fresh crisis as MPs crushed Theresa May’s Brexit deal just 17 days before the UK leave the European Union.

The House of Commons voted 391-242 against the PM’s plan for a second time, 56 days after it suffered the biggest defeat in history.

The 149-vote  majority is a final humiliation for the cold-ridden Prime Minister who spent the final hours begging them to back her with a hoarse sore throat.

She flew to Strasbourg 24 hours ago for a last-gasp pact with the EU only for MPs to hurl it in the bin.

And it dramatically ramps up the odds of Brexit being delayed beyond March 29, with MPs due to vote on an extension on Thursday. Hoarse voiced Mrs May croaked that she “profoundly regretted” the decision.

She said: “I’m passionate about delivering the result of the referendum, but I equally passionately believe that the best way to do that is to leave in an orderly way with a deal.”

But Jeremy Corbyn declared: “The prime minister has run out the clock – and the clock has run out on her. Perhaps now is time for a general election and the people can make their choice.”

Mr Corbyn added: “The government must now accept that their deal is clearly dead and does not have the support of the house.”And No Deal must now be taken off the table.

“This party will put forward our proposals again – they are about a customs union and access to the market.”I believe they may have the support of this house.” 

MPs will now vote on whether to have a No Deal Brexit later on the week. Mrs May confirmed for the first time it will be a free vote avoiding a Tory mutiny that would force her to sack a string of ministers.

That vote is expected to block a No Deal Brexit. If it does, it will be followed by a vote on whether to delay Brexit at 5pm on Thursday.

Last night’s vote – 992 days after the EU referendum prompts what Mrs May herself admitted would be a “crisis” and unravels two months of work in an instant.

One Tory voting in black tie quipped grimly: “This is what they wore on the Titanic”.The Prime Minister was desperate to renegotiate her deal since it was defeated by a 230-vote majority in January.

But EU chiefs rebuffed her pleas to reopen talks on the ‘Irish backstop’ – a clause in the deal that could keep the UK trapped under EU customs rules from January 2021.

The clause was needed to prevent border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic. But it would stop the UK signing world trade deals and divide Northern Ireland from Britain.

After weeks of public spats, Mrs May finally won “legally binding” concessions from the EU last night.

A “joint instrument” would have let the UK to quit the backstop if it could prove Brussels was trying to trap us inside indefinitely. But it fell drastically short of Mrs May’s demand for a time limit, a unilateral exit clause or “alternative arrangements”.

And she broke her promise to reopen the 585-page deal itself – instead having a piece of paper to add on top.That meant her victory unfurled with disastrous consequences.

235 Tory MPs voted for the Brexit deal and 75 voted against it – fewer than the 118 rebels last time.

Just three Labour MPs voted for the deal – Caroline Flint, John Mann and Sir Kevin Barron – despite weeks of attempts to win them over with promises on workers’ rights. 238 Labour MPs voted against.

All 10 DUP MPs voted against the deal as did all 35 from the SNP and 11 Lib Dems.

17 independents voted against the deal, including the Independent Group and Fiona Onasanya, who is wearing an electronic tag after being released from jail.

By contrast four independents voted for the deal – ex-Labour MPs Ian Austin and Frank Field, ex-Lib Dem Stephen Lloyd, and independent unionist Sylvia Hermon. Lastly all 4 Plaid Cymru MPs voted against the deal as did Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

The dam broke at 11am on Tuesday when her own Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, admitted there were “no lawful means” of quitting the backstop without agreement.

The Cabinet minister begged MPs to back the deal anyway, saying it was a “political judgement” and “not a matter of law”, but the damage was done.

A hastily arranged, personal plea from the Prime Minister to her MPs at a meeting in Parliament fell on deaf ears.Just after 1pm the heavens opened in Westminster, just as Tory Brexiteers and the DUP warned they would not back the PM.

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds warned the UK could stay “trapped” in the Northern Ireland backstop.

And a “star chamber” of eight right-wing lawyer MPs ruled the Prime Minister had failed to deliver the “legally binding changes” she pledged.

Boris Johnson compared Theresa May and Geoffrey Cox to Adam and Eve – saying: “They have sewed an apron of figleaves that does nothing to conceal the embarrassment and the indignity of the UK”.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry proclaimed: “Today the emperor has no clothes, none at all not even a codpiece”.

Desperate Mrs May struggled through a sore throat as she told Tories defeating her would lead to a softer, Norway-style Brexit or no Brexit at all.

“Brexit could be lost”, she proclaimed.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn declared: “We’re back again into smoke and mirrors the illusion of change when the reality is nothing has changed.”It’s all spin and no substance from the Prime Minister.”

Estimates before the vote suggested more than 20 of the 118 Tory MPs who opposed the deal last time had switched sides.

But it was not enough. An hour before the vote, a member of the hard Brexit-backing European Research Group said a “clear majority” would be voting against the Prime Minister’s deal.

Focus will now switch dramatically to how the PM will whip her MPs to vote on whether to back a No Deal Brexit tomorrow night.

Meanwhile the barely covert Tory leadership campaign will ramp up, with hopefuls already setting out their stalls, predicting the Prime Minister will be gone by the end of the summer.

And pressure will once again build on Jeremy Corbyn to back a second referendum after his party said this week was not the time to push for one.Mr Corbyn has been in back-channel talks with Tory MPs which could yet lead to a softer, ‘Norway-style’ Brexit.

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