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		</div><p><b>Update 5.50pm:</b> Theresa May has suffered another humiliating Commons defeat after British MPs again voted down her latest Brexit plans.</p>
<p>On another dramatic day at Westminster, MPs voted by 303 to 258 against the motion endorsing the UK Government’s approach.</p>
<p>The defeat came after the pro-Brexit Tory European Research Group announced they had taken a “collective decision” to abstain.</p>
<p>Furious members said supporting the motion would have amounted to an endorsement of efforts to rule out a no-deal Brexit.</p>
<p>The wording of the motion called on MPs to reiterate their support for the approach set out in an earlier set of votes on January 29.</p>
<p>On that occasion, the Commons voted for a Government-backed amendment calling on ministers to re-open negotiations with Brussels on the Northern Ireland backstop.</p>
<p>However it also voted for a non-binding cross-party amendment rejecting a no-deal break with the EU.</p>
<p>The Tánaiste says it is incredible UK politicians have let Brexit come to this.</p>
<p>Simon Coveney spoke as the House of Commons voted down Theresa May&#8217;s latest Brexit plans.</p>
<p>He told an Oireachtas committee the pressure is on London to come up with a solution to the current impasse.</p>
<p>Simon Coveney also hit out at British politicians for letting things get to this late stage without a deal.</p>
<p>&#8220;Britain is a great country but we&#8217;ve got to call it as it is,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>It is incredible, in my view, that the British Parliament has allowed it come to this. But that being said, I still believe that there is a way to get through this process and to have a managed, controlled and predictable Brexit.</p>
<h2>Earlier: Labour fails in bid to stop Theresa May &#8216;running down the clock&#8217; on Brexit</h2>
<p><b>Update 5.30pm:</b> Labour has failed in an attempt to stop Theresa May &#8220;running down the clock&#8221; to a no-deal Brexit, after British MPs voted down the party&#8217;s demand for the British Prime Minister to bring her Withdrawal Agreement back to the Commons by February 27.</p>
<p>But the PM was facing probable defeat in another dramatic night for Brexit, after eurosceptic Tory backbenchers announced they would abstain on a key Government motion.</p>
<p>They said that the motion tabled by Mrs May would amount to an effective endorsement of efforts to rule out a no-deal Brexit.</p>
<p>A Labour amendment, requiring the Government to stage a second &#8220;meaningful vote&#8221; on its Brexit deal by February 27 or give Parliament control over the next steps, was defeated by 322 to 306.</p>
<p>MPs also defeated the SNP amendment to extend the Article 50 period. They rejected the amendment by 315 votes to 93, majority 222.</p>
<p>Ahead of the votes, Government ministers urged MPs to back Mrs May, arguing that defeat for the Prime Minister would undermine the UK&#8217;s chances of securing concessions from Brussels on the controversial &#8220;backstop&#8221; arrangements for keeping the Irish border open.</p>
<p>But members of the European Research Group of Leave-backing Conservatives emerged from a last-minute meeting in a Westminster committee room to say that they would abstain.</p>
<p>The PM&#8217;s motion asks the House to &#8220;reiterate&#8221; its support for the stance taken by MPs in the last round of Brexit votes on January 29.</p>
<p>On that date, MPs voted not only to authorise the PM to go back to Brussels to renegotiate the controversial Irish backstop, but also for a non-binding amendment to block EU withdrawal without an agreement.</p>
<p>In a day of debate in the Commons ahead of the Valentine&#8217;s Day votes, senior Brexiteers voiced reluctance to lend their support to anything which appeared to endorse ruling out no-deal.</p>
<p>Although Downing Street insisted no-deal would remain firmly on the table, former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said he was &#8220;struggling with the idea&#8221; of backing the Government motion.</p>
<p>And veteran eurosceptic Sir William Cash said he could not vote for a piece of &#8220;doublethink&#8221; which would &#8220;further undermine public trust&#8221;.</p>
<p>Opening the day&#8217;s debate, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay warned that European leaders would be watching the evening&#8217;s votes for &#8220;any sign that our resolve is weakening&#8221;.</p>
<figure id="attachment_125911" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-125911" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/F2110740-FAC8-4B26-80DD-E9618D1A8C89.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-125911" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/F2110740-FAC8-4B26-80DD-E9618D1A8C89.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="325" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-125911" class="wp-caption-text">Stephen Barclay</figcaption></figure>
<p>And International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC: &#8220;Our European partners will be watching our debate and listening today to see if they get the impression that if they were to make &#8230; concessions, Parliament would definitely deliver on that.&#8221;</p>
<p>Also up for a vote was a Scottish National Party proposal to delay Brexit for three months beyond the scheduled date of March 29.</p>
<p>He maintained she was taking the Brexit debate to the wire in order to be able to confront MPs with a last-minute choice between her deal or no-deal.</p>
<p>He confirmed Labour will back a cross-party plan from backbencher Yvette Cooper &#8211; expected to go to a vote on February 27 &#8211; which would force the Government to conclude its deal by March 13 or allow MPs to vote on no-deal or a second referendum.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is obvious what the Prime Minister is up to &#8211; she is pretending to make progress while running down the clock,&#8221; said Sir Keir.</p>
<p>&#8220;A non-update every other week to buy another two weeks of process, inching ever closer to the March 29 deadline in 43 days. We should not be fooled.&#8221;</p>
<p>The latest Brexit showdown came as Dutch PM Mark Rutte told the Financial Times the Netherlands is already benefiting from businesses relocating from a &#8220;diminished&#8221; Britain.</p>
<p>But Mrs May&#8217;s spokesman said Number 10 &#8220;disagrees entirely&#8221; with Mr Rutte&#8217;s stance, adding: &#8220;Employment is at a record high, exports are at a record high, companies are continuing to invest in the UK.</p>
<p>&#8220;Deloitte named the UK as Europe&#8217;s leading destination for foreign direct investment and London as the world&#8217;s top city for investment just last month.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a bid to keep lines open with EU leaders, Mrs May held phone calls on Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Austria&#8217;s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, prime minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden and Portuguese premier Antonio Costa.</p>
<p>People&#8217;s Vote protesters seeking a second EU referendum gathered outside Parliament to demonstrate against what they termed a &#8220;blindfold Brexit&#8221;.</p>
<p>And pro-Brexit campaigners from the Leave Means Leave movement delivered a Valentine&#8217;s Day card for the Prime Minister to Downing Street.</p>
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