Theresa May humiliated as Brexit postponed indefinitely

Facing the prospect of defeat, Theresa May has postponed a parliamentary vote on her proposal for Britain’s departure from the EU, throwing the process into chaos.

A humiliated Theresa May has suspended her Brexit vote indefinitely after conceding it was going to be “rejected by a significant margin.’’

The British Prime Minister has told the House of Commons she would make a last-minute dash back to Brussels to try to find a way to address concerns UK MPs had about the deal she had struck with the other 27 European Union member nations.

But the European Commission had just hours earlier said it would not re-open negotiations, meaning all it could do was offer “reassurances’’ to Mrs May about the problematic “backstop’’ which has led more than 100 members of Mrs May’s Conservative government to speak out against the deal.

Mrs May gave no indication when she would bring the vote back to the house, although it could be next week, or even January.

All the while the March 29 deadline for the UK to leave the EU ticks closer, with Mrs May warning the longer the negotiations dragged on, and greater the chance grew of an “accidental no-deal.’’

A man wears a “Make England Great Again” hat at a “Brexit Betrayal Rally” in London. Picture: AP

“I have listened very carefully to what has been said, in this chamber and out of it, by members from all sides,’’ Mrs May told a packed House of Commons, after three days of debate on the Withdrawal Agreement bill.

“From listening to those views it is clear that while there is broad support for many of the key aspects of the deal, on one issue — the Northern Ireland backstop — there remains widespread and deep concern.

“As a result, if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow the deal would be rejected by a significant margin.’’

The backstop is the deal that would be put in place keeping the UK tied to a large number of EU laws including customs in the event that a permanent deal had not been done at the end of a transition period after the UK left the EU.

Brexiteers are refusing to sign up after the Attorney-General provided legal advice making it clear the UK would have no ability simply to pull the pin on the deal when they wanted to end it.

RELATED: ‘Anything could happen’ if Brexit deal rejected

RELATED: Brexit parliamentary vote will change Britain forever

The postponement comes amid speculation that the PM could lose the vote by more than 200 votes, a catastrophic loss that would probably have ended her leadership. Picture: AFP

The alternative to the backstop would potentially be a hard border along the Ireland/Northern Ireland border, which would a direct breach of the Good Friday Agreement which brought an end to the Troubles and brought peace to the island of Ireland.

Mrs May’s decision came after it became clear her bill could have been rejected by the House of Commons by as many as 200 votes.

Cabinet ministers were concerned the loss would be so catastrophic it would bring down not just Mrs May as prime minister, but the entire Tory government.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Government was in “complete disarray’’ and the UK found itself in an “extremely serious and unprecedented situation.’’

“The Government has decided Theresa May’s Brexit deal is so disastrous that it has taken the desperate step of delaying its own vote at the eleventh hour,’’ he said earlier.

A person dressed as a caricature of Theresa May hands out “May's Brexit Fudge” in Parliament Square. Picture: Getty

“We have known for at least two weeks that Theresa May’s worst of all worlds deal was going to be rejected by Parliament because it is damaging for Britain. Instead, she ploughed ahead when she should have gone back to Brussels to renegotiate or called an election so the public could elect a new government that could do so.

“We don’t have a functioning government.’’

The leader of the DUP, which props up the Tories in minority government, Arlene Foster, tweeted just before the PM got to her feet: “Just finished a call with the Prime Minister. My message was clear. The backstop must go. Too much time has been wasted. Need a better deal. Disappointed it has taken so long for Prime Minister to listen.’’

The vote — known as a “meaningful vote’’ — came about only after lengthy court action by Remainers, and gave MPs the power to veto any deal struck by the prime minister with the European Union.

The chaos immediately caused the British pound to tumble, dropping against the euro and the US dollar, and bringing the FTSE 100 down.

People take part in a pro-Brexit rally. Picture: Getty Images

Hours earlier the European Court of Justice had ruled that Brexit could be unilaterally cancelled, saying a new referendum — or a vote in the House of Commons — was enough to cancel Britain’s planned departure from the European Union.

The ruling from Europe’s highest court in Luxembourg appears to have given Remainer MPs a new way out of Brexit, despite Mrs May’s insistence that the UK would leave the EU on March 29 under a legal process known as Article 50.

“The United Kingdom is free to revoke unilaterally the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU,” the court said, in a ruling which cannot be appealed.

Mrs May — who voted Remain in the Brexit referendum in 2016 — also appeared to again reject the idea of a second referendum, which is being pushed hard by Remainers as a “people’s vote.’’

Brexit could change England forever. Picture: AP

“So if you want a second referendum to overturn the result of the first, be honest that this risks dividing the country again, when as a House we should be striving to bring it back together,’’ she said.

“The vast majority of us, Mr Speaker, accept the result of the referendum, and want to leave with a deal.’’

She said a backstop was an “inescapable fact’’ of any negotiated exit from the EU.

“The customs element of the backstop is now UK-wide. It no longer splits our country into two customs territories. This also means that the backstop is now an uncomfortable arrangement for the EU, so they won’t want it to come into use, or persist for long if it does,’’ she said.

“The treaty is now clear that the backstop can only ever be temporary. And there is now a termination clause.”

Protesters attend a pro-Brexit demonstration in London over the weekend. Picture: AFP

“But I am clear from what I have heard in this place and from my own conversations that these elements do not offer a sufficient number of colleagues the reassurance that they need.’’

Mrs May said MPs now faced a more fundamental question.

“Does this House want to deliver Brexit? And if it does, does it want to do so through reaching an agreement with the EU?” she asked.

“If the answer is yes, and I believe that is the answer of the majority of this House, then we all have to ask ourselves whether we are prepared to make a compromise.

“Because there will be no enduring and successful Brexit without some compromise on both sides of the debate.”