Theresa May back to Brussels as no-deal Brexit blocked

A series of votes on amendments to May's Brexit plan has left the Prime Minister with a large task ahead as the clock ticks towards the scheduled date of EU withdrawal

Morningstar News Team 30 January, 2019 | 6:00PM
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Members of Parliament have authorised U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to go back to Brussels and try to renegotiate her Brexit deal.

But one of the Prime Minister's most important negotiating weapons has been taken off the table, as the House of Commons also voted to block a no-deal Brexit.

The result of a series of votes on amendments to May's Brexit Plan B has left the Prime Minister with a large task ahead as the clock ticks towards the scheduled date of EU withdrawal on March 29.

She had issued a plea for MPs to give her a clear mandate to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement which she agreed with the EU last November and seek to secure changes to its controversial backstop provision.

May secured the backing of the Commons to go back to Brussels, as MPs voted by 317 to 301 in favour of a proposal from Tory grandee Graham Brady for her to try to replace the backstop with "alternative arrangements" to keep the Irish border open after Brexit. The cross-party plan, headed by Tory Caroline Spelman and Labour's Jack Dromey, won by 318 votes to 310, majority 8.

It "rejects the U.K. leaving the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement and a Framework for the Future Relationship".

No Deal and Corbyn Rejected

The amendment's success came after MPs rejected a bid to delay Brexit in order to prevent a no-deal departure from the EU.

Earlier, the Commons rejected a bid by Jeremy Corbyn to force a debate on Labour's Brexit plans.

Corbyn's call for more time to be given for MPs to consider alternatives to the Brexit deal was the first in a series of amendments being put to the vote on Tuesday evening. May made a plea to MPs to give her a "mandate" to reopen negotiations with Brussels by backing a proposal from Tory grandee Sir Graham Brady, which calls for the controversial backstop to be replaced by "alternative arrangements" to keep the Irish border open after Brexit.

The chances of the Brady amendment succeeding were boosted when hardline Eurosceptics in the backbench European Research Group announced they would support it. But May's hopes of reopening the Withdrawal Agreement struck with the EU last November were dealt a blow by French President Emmanuel Macron, who described it as "not renegotiable".

Speaking in Cyprus moments before MPs voted, Macron said: "As the European Council in December clearly indicated, the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated between the UK and EU is the best agreement possible.

“It is not renegotiable.”

Macron called on May to present the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier with her next steps for avoiding a no-deal Brexit on March 29, which he said "no-one wants, but…we must all, despite everything, prepare for".

Corbyn's amendment was defeated by 296 votes to 327, with MPs thought to have voted broadly along party lines.

A second amendment tabled by the Scottish National Party, which called on the government to rule out no-deal and extend the two-year Article 50 negotiation process, was defeated by 327 votes to 39, as Labour abstained.

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