Latest: British MPs have rejected Theresa May’s revised Brexit deal by by 391 to 242, a majority of 149.
This evening’s vote was the second time the British Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement has been decided on in the House of Commons.
The 230-vote margin of defeat in the first vote in January was by far the worst suffered by any British Government in a meaningful decision since at least the First World War.
The division list showed 235 Conservative MPs voted for the deal, three Labour and four independents.
Following the defeat of her Brexit deal in the second “meaningful vote”, Mrs May told the House of Commons that she will grant a free vote to Conservative MPs in a vote on Wednesday on whether the UK should leave the EU without a deal on March 29.
The motion will say that the Commons declines to leave the EU without a deal, said Mrs May,and if the Commons declines to approve a no-deal Brexit, a vote on extending Article 50 will take place on Thursday.
Mrs May said that the choices facing the UK were “unenviable”, but because of the rejection of her deal, “they are choices that must be faced”.
She said she “profoundly regrets the decision this House has taken tonight” and that she continues to believe “that by far the best outcome is the UK leaves the European Union in orderly fashion with a deal”.
“And that the deal we have negotiated is the best and indeed only deal available.”
Mrs May stressed her responsibilities for Northern Ireland, where Stormont is still suspended.
She said: “I’m conscious of my duties as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the potential damage to the union that leaving without a deal could do, when one part of our country is without a devolved government.”
Hitting out at Ms May’s comments, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The prime minister has run down the clock, and the clock has run out on her. Maybe it’s time we had a general election.”
Responding to tonight’s defeat for the British PM, the EU’s cheif negotiator Michel Barnier said the impasse can only be solved by the UK.
In a tweet he 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.”
British MPs due to vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal
British MPs will decide shortly whether to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal two months after it suffered the biggest UK government defeat in history.
Sky News analysis suggests the British Prime Minister’s agreement will be defeated by over 100 votes.
The DUP and some Conservatives say they will not support it because they still have concerns over the Irish backstop.
Earlier, former Brexit secretary Boris Johnson said Mrs May and Attorney General had merely sowed an “apron of fig leaves” to cover the embarrassment of the Brexit deal.
He warned that her deal has “reached the end of the road” as he argued the UK should leave the EU without an agreement.
The Conservative former Cabinet minister said the British Prime Minister’s deal should be “put to bed” if it is rejected by MPs and instead the Government should “face up to the reality” of the situation.
Mr Johnson claimed the UK would then be left with the choice to either pursue a no-deal Brexit despite its “short-term” difficulties or risk “humiliation” by accepting further changes that limit the “disruption” but are to the benefit of the EU.
His intervention came hours after Attorney General Geoffrey Cox insisted the “entire continent of Europe” would be allowed to move on if MPs backed the Brexit deal.
Mr Cox faced Eurosceptic opposition as he made a last-ditch plea in the Commons while answering questions about his legal advice on the effect of changes secured by the Prime Minister.
The British Government’s chief legal adviser said MPs have a “political decision” to make on the deal after confirming the changes reduce the risk the UK could be trapped in the Northern Ireland backstop – although this outcome has not been entirely removed.
The DUP’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said it was “very likely” that there will be “probably successful” attempts to delay Brexit if Mrs May’s deal is rejected.
He told Sky News: “It looks very likely that on Thursday if the vote doesn’t go through tonight, there will be attempts in the House and probably successful attempts in the House to extend the time in which we stay within the EU.”
Mr Wilson said if an extension of Article 50 was voted through the Commons that “after the end of June we will have to leave the EU because we have not participated in the European elections”.
The DUP indicated that the party will not support Mrs May’s deal saying in a statement “that sufficient progress has not been achieved at this time”.
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