Delay Brexit deadline now or pay later: MPs

Theresa May is under mounting pressure to delay Brexit after suffering the largest Commons defeat in British political history.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on the attack in the House of Commons after losing a vote on her Brexit plan. Picture: AP

Theresa May is under mounting pressure to delay Brexit after suffering the largest Commons defeat in British political history.

The Prime Minister offered cross-party talks after MPs rejected her deal by a majority of 230, with more than one-third of Conser­vatives rebelling.

Yet with only 72 days to go ­before Britain leaves, Labour MPs are demanding she extend the ­Article 50 withdrawing process to give time for a consensus to be found.

In all, 202 MPs voted in favour of Mrs May’s deal and 432 against. The previous biggest meaningful defeat of a prime minister was in 1924 when Ramsay MacDonald’s short-lived minority Labour government lost by 166 votes.

Among Tory MPs, 118 voted against their leader’s deal, compared with 196 who backed it. Only three Labour MPs, along with three independents, supported the Prime Minister.

Mrs May had appealed to MPs to fulfil their “sacred duty”, suggesting for the first time that a no-deal exit would betray the 2016 referendum result. After the overwhelming rejection, she said it was clear that the Commons “does not support this deal”. She challenged MPs to say what they wanted.

Mrs May’s attempt to preserve her Brexit red lines soured her ­appeal for cross-party talks. She said they “must focus on ideas that are genuinely negotiable and have sufficient support in this house”.

Her spokesman said she would enter any talks determined to preserve her interpretation of the referendum result, further narrowing their scope.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP who worked with pro-EU Tories to limit the government’s no-deal powers last week, said there would need to be an immediate ­extension of Article 50.

Her colleague Hilary Benn queried whether Mrs May was ready to soften Brexit, including staying in the Customs union, to win a Commons majority. “The ­really big question is: will she listen to what she hears?” he said.

Ms Cooper and Mr Benn have backed a draft bill by former ministers Oliver Letwin, Nick Boles and Nicky Morgan that allows MPs to try to formulate a plan that could command majority support.

The bill stipulates that if that failed, the Prime Minister would be compelled to go to Brussels and request an extension to Article 50 until December, nine months after the planned March 29 departure date.

One MP said there was no need to adopt the plan, arguing that the closer no-deal came to ­becoming a reality, the greater the chance that MPs would get ­behind a second referendum.

Mr Boles denied that the plan was designed to help the government, although he said it had the tacit support of some ministers.

He added that a second referendum would be an option that would be looked at if MPs were handed control of the process.

Ms Morgan said of extending Article 50: “I’d rather not but I can see we may be heading that way.”

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged Mrs May to “stop the Article 50 clock”.

The Prime Minister must tell MPs on Monday how she will proceed. Tory ministers were said to have told business leaders in a conference call that a backbench ­motion was being prepared to delay Article 50.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling rejected a central Labour demand. “Keeping the Customs union effectively means staying in the single market and keeping free movement,” he said.

Supporters of a second referendum declared Mrs May’s deal “dead”.

Dominic Grieve, the former ­attorney-general, said: “It’s clear there is no appetite for the government’s deal, and indeed there is no majority for any other version of Brexit either. We must bring the people back into this discussion, by legislating for a final say.”

A letter was circulated showing that the number of Labour MPs who backed a second referendum was about 100.

Mrs May will not travel to Brussels to seek concessions on the Irish backstop until after the cross-party talks, according to ­allies.

The Times, The Wall Street Journal