Brexit: Theresa May loses withdrawal bill 391 to 242

The UK moves into uncharted territory as Theresa May suffers another humiliating defeat of her withdrawal bill by 391 to 242.

Theresa May has suffered a thumping loss of her Brexit withdrawal bill this morning, with the future of Brexit now in meltdown.

This morning Mrs May failed to win over enough MPs, with the bill losing 391 to 242, a soul-destroying margin of 149.

The No-voters included 75 Tory MPs and the 10 DUP

The only comfort Mrs May can take from the humiliating result was that the vote was an improvement on the record breaking losing margin of 230 that she suffered when the withdrawal bill was first put to the parliament in January.

Mrs May told parliament she “profoundly regrets” the vote and said delaying Britain’s departure from Europe would not solve the underlying problem.

In a statement to the Commons Mrs May said she had “fought hard” to persuade the EU to accept a time limit, a unilateral exit mechanism or alternative arrangements for the backstop. But she told MPs: “Ultimately you have to practise the art of the possible. I am certain we have secured the very best changes that were available.”

She added: “A bad deal would be even worse than no deal, but best of all is a good deal, and this is a good deal.”

Mrs May said parliament will tomorrow be given a chance to “decline” leaving the EU without a deal on March 29.

If, as expected, that vote is passed, on Friday parliament will vote on whether to seek an extension to Article 50 that would delay Britain’s departure date. However Mrs May cautioned that the EU would need a reason to approve a delay.

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker has already forewarned that any extension to Article 50 must end before the start of European Parliament elections which start on May 23.

The EU has to sign off on any such request. Crucially they may not be persuaded to agree to a lengthy extension if there is no obvious way of the British parliament to pass any kind of Brexit legislation.

Tory MP Charles Walker told the BBC before the vote that if the vote failed ‘’there will have to be a general election’’.

NEW One Tory MP votes in black tie telling us moments afterwards: "This is what they wore on the Titanic."

— Christopher Hope (@christopherhope) March 12, 2019

Tomorrow’s no-deal motion suggests that if the Commons wants to leave Europe without a no -deal then the only deal on the table is Mrs May’s deal.

But her suggestion that other options might be canvassed, hints that a series of indicative votes might also take place soon.

She said: ”If the House declines to approve leaving without a deal on the 29th of March the government will follow that vote by bringing forward a motion on Thursday on whether Parliament wants to seek an extension to Article 50.

“If the House votes for an extension the government will seek to agree that extension with the EU and bring forward the necessary legislation to change the exit date commensurate with that extension.

“But let me be clear: Voting against leaving without a deal and for an extension does not solve the problems we face.

“The EU will want to know what use we mean to make of such an extension and this House will have to answer that question.

“Does it wish to revoke Article 50? Does it want to hold a second referendum? Or does it want to leave with a deal but not this deal? These are unenviable choices but thanks to the decision the House has made this evening they are choices that must now be faced.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the choice he wants is a general election.

In Europe the response to the vote was one of dismay. the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, said: “The EU has done everything it can to help get the withdrawal agreement over the line.

“The impasse can only be solved in the UK. Our ‘no-deal’ preparations are now more important than ever before.”

Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, said: “On the EU side we have done all that is possible to reach an agreement.”

Senior Tories on both sides of the Brexit debate are united about the catastrophic future facing the UK, but are split if that eventuality occurs if no deal passes, or if no deal fails.

Graham Brady, the chair of the Tory backbench 1922 committee said voting for anything other than a no deal would bring about endless delay and greater uncertainty.

”That would be a devastating result,’’ he said.

But Dominic Grieve, another senior Tory said a no deal Brexit “would be catastrophic for our country’’.

Early indications are that no deal will be taken off the table after tomorrow’s vote.

‘Fasten your seatbelts’

Earlier, European Commission Vice-President, Jyrki Katainen advised: “fasten your seatbelt” if the deal was defeated.

He said in Strasbourg: “Depending on the vote in the Commons, we are either moving forward to orderly withdrawal or a hard Brexit is closer again; more close than ever it has been.

”So, keep your hands on the wheel, look forward and fasten your seatbelt.’’

The bill was expected to be defeated, with the only question being by how big a margin. Mrs May needed 116 MPs to have changed their minds since the devastating defeat in January but in the event .

This follows the Conservatives’ confidence and supply partners, the Democratic Unionist Party rejecting Mrs May’s last gasp additional legal documents drawn up with the European Union yesterday.

I can safely say the no lobby is absolutely rammed.... the PM is about to face another huge defeat. #Brexit #BrexitShambles pic.twitter.com/tRywgG4y1e

— Hannah Bardell 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏳️‍🌈 (@HannahB4LiviMP) March 12, 2019

Attorney General cruels bill

Overnight, Mrs May was disheartened when the Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox failed to dispatch a fresh encouraging legal opinion about the ability of the UK to extricate itself from the Irish backstop, to help sway any wavering MP’s to support her bill.

Crucially, he said the legal risk remains “unchanged,” adding that if there were”intractable differences between the parties, the UK would have “no internationally lawful means of exiting” the backstop.

A handful of Tory MPs said they would change their vote from the first meaningful vote back in January and swing behind Mrs May, but there has been no evidence of her being able to change the minds of enough Tory MPs for the bill to pass.

The majority of the European Research Group within the Tory party who support a hard Brexit were expected to vote against the deal, with members saying Mrs May has not secured any changes to what was on the table previously.

But among the Brexiteers there is a sense of doom that if Mrs May’s bill is not passed, the only course is for a softer Brexit

After the vote failed, Mrs May is expected to announce a request to the EU for a short extension of Article 50, to bounce her deal down the road again if the margin of defeat is reasonably close. European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker has already forewarned that any extension to article 50 must end before the start of European Parliament elections which start on May 23.
The EU has to sign off on any extension, and crucially they may not be persuaded to agree to a lengthy extension if there is no clear way of the British parliament to pass any kind of Brexit legislation.

But another loss of a margin of more than 200, following on from the first loss of 230, would be catastrophic to her plans, and perhaps even to her leadership. The parliament is expected to debate a motion calling for a no deal Brexit to be taken off the table tomorrow.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said there was a majority in the house for a soft Brexit, supporting a close customs union with the EU.

Mrs May tried to reassure MPs that Northern Ireland would not be penalised if the backstop was ever put in place. She said that if the Northern Ireland assembly opposed the backstop then the transition period would be extended. She promised that Britain would have the same regulatory standards as Northern Ireland — effectively that the UK would adopt the EU standards. She also promised that the government would legislate to ban any expansion of the North-South cooperation in Ireland through the EU withdrawal agreement instead of using the Good Friday agreement.