[ 2019-03-29 ]

Brexit: MPs reject May's EU withdrawal agreement
MPs have rejected Theresa May’s EU
withdrawal agreement on the day the UK was due to
leave the EU.

The government lost by 344 votes to 286, a
majority of 58.

It means the UK has missed an EU deadline to delay
Brexit to 22 May and leave with a deal.

The prime minister said the UK would have to find
"an alternative way forward", which was "almost
certain" to involve holding European elections.

LIVE: Reaction as MPs reject withdrawal
agreement
Brexit supporters rally outside Parliament

Mrs May now has until 12 April to seek a longer
extension to the negotiation process to avoid a
no-deal Brexit on that date.

With a clear majority in the Commons against a
no-deal Brexit, and with MPs holding more votes on
alternative plans on Monday, Mrs May said that the
UK would have to find "an alternative way
forward".

The prime minister said that the outcome was "a
matter of profound regret", adding that "I fear we
are reaching the limits of this process in this
House".

Responding to the vote, European Council President
Donald Tusk tweeted: "In view of the rejection of
the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons,
I have decided to call a European Council on 10
April."

European Commission secretary general Martin
Selmayr - right-hand-man to president Jean-Claude
Juncker - tweeted: "12 April is now the new 29
March Brexit."
Media captionJeremy Corbyn: "This deal now has to
change"

Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the European
Research Group of Brexiteer Conservatives, said it
was time for Mrs May to quit.

"This must be the final defeat for Theresa May's
deal. It's finished. And we must move on.

"It has not passed. It will not pass. I regret to
say it is time for Theresa May to follow through
on her words and make way so that a new leader can
deliver a withdrawal agreement which will be
passed by Parliament."

Mr Baker was one of 34 Conservative rebels to vote
against the agreement, along with the Democratic
Unionist Party and the Labour Party. Five Labour
MPs voted for the agreement.

A number of high profile Tory Brexiteers,
including Dominic Raab and Iain Duncan Smith, did
vote for the agreement, but it was not enough to
prevent another damaging defeat for Mrs May, who
had offered to stand down to persuade her critics
to back the deal.

This was not a third "meaningful vote" on the PM's
EU deal, which also includes a political
declaration on future relations between the UK and
the EU, and which has previously been rejected by
larger margins.

By holding a vote on the withdrawal agreement
only, the government had hoped to secure a short
delay to Brexit and avoid the UK taking part in
May's European elections.

MPs are set to have another go at reaching a
Brexit compromise in another series of votes on
Monday and Wednesday next week.

If one of the options receives a majority, the
government could use it as a basis for negotiating
changes to the political declaration.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The House has
been clear, this deal now has to change.

"There has to be an alternative found. And if the
prime minister can't accept that then she must go,
not at an indeterminate date in the future but
now.

"So that we can decide the future of this country
through a general election."

Source - BBC

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