Brexit Live: Labour tables confidence vote after May’s deal defeated
Jeremy Corbyn said the defeat was ‘catastrophic’.
MPs have rejected Theresa May’s Brexit deal by 432 votes to 202, majority 230.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the House of Commons that Mrs May’s “catastrophic” defeat represented an “absolutely decisive” verdict on her Brexit negotiations.
He announced he has tabled a motion of no confidence in the Government, which will go to a Commons vote on Wednesday. It could force an early general election if it wins the support of more than 50% of MPs.
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The European Commission has said that the risk of a disorderly UK exit from the EU has increased as a result of Theresa May’s defeat, warning: “Time is almost up.”
President Jean-Claude Juncker, who cancelled travel plans to be in Brussels to deal with the aftermath of the vote on Wednesday, voiced regret at the result.
He urged the UK Government to make its intentions clear “as soon as possible” and said the Commission would continue its preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit.
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Prime Minister Theresa May has arrived back at 10 Downing Street following the Commons defeat.
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The Irish Government said it regrets the result of the Brexit vote in Westminster and has urged the UK to set out how it plans to move forward.
In a statement, it said: “The Irish Government continues to believe that ratification of this agreement is the best way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the UK, which avoids a hard border and respects the single market and Customs Union, while also delivering on the UK’s objectives for withdrawal.
“The Irish Government recalls the clear position of the European Council at its meeting of December 13 when it stated that the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation. This was restated in the joint letter from Presidents Tusk and Juncker to Prime Minister May yesterday.”
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Arch-Brexiteer Boris Johnson told the Press Association: “I was slightly surprised by the scale of the defeat, but I take no particular pleasure in it.
“I would never rejoice in the idea of a Conservative government being defeated on anything… A second referendum would plunge us back again into an orgy of toxic tedium of the kind that nobody wants.”
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Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster commended Parliament over the defeat of Theresa May’s withdrawal deal.
“Parliament has acted in the best interests of the entire United Kingdom,” she said.
“The House of Commons has sent an unmistakable message to the Prime Minister and the European Union that this deal is rejected.
“Mrs May will now be able to demonstrate to the Brussels negotiators that changes are required if any deal is to command the support of Parliament.”
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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “MPs have done the right thing tonight by rejecting the Government’s bad Brexit deal.”
He added: “What happens next will define our future for decades to come.
“It is absolutely vital that the Prime Minister acts immediately to take any prospect of a no-deal Brexit off the table for good. That means withdrawing Article 50.
“We then need a fundamental rethink about how we take this crucial decision. The politicians have failed and in the absence of a general election, the British public must be allowed to decide what happens next.”
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A No 10 spokesman said they hoped to open talks with other MPs as “swiftly as possible” once the vote of confidence was out of the way.
“We want to identify what would be required to secure the backing of the House consistent with what we believe to be the result of the referendum,” the spokesman said.
“We want to leave with a deal and we want to work with others who share that.”
The spokesman declined to be drawn on whether they would include Jeremy Corbyn.
“Let’s not pre-empt talks before they have happened. We will look to engage widely with people we believe share our objectives.”
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Crowds watched the goings-on in the Commons on a large screen outside Parliament.
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Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the result of the vote gave Theresa May a “massive mandate” to go back to Brussels and renegotiate.
Asked by the BBC whether Mrs May was the right person to lead the party and country, he said: “The Tory Party had a go at all that, we all had a go at all that in December.
“That is not the issue. The issue is not who does it, the issue is what to do.”
He added that no-deal was “not at all” off the table, saying: “We should not only be keeping the good bits of the deal, getting rid of the backstop, but we should also be actively preparing for no-deal with ever more enthusiasm.”
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The DUP’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson confirmed the party would vote with Theresa May in Wednesday’s confidence vote.
He told the BBC: “We will vote with the Government, we will vote against the Labour Party’s confidence motion.
“We want to see the Conservative Government continuing to deliver on Brexit … we never wanted a change of government, we wanted a change of policy back to what the Prime Minister promised in the manifesto she stood on, and the promises she made in subsequent speeches.”
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Meanwhile, protests continued outside Parliament.
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Liberal Democrats leader Sir Vince Cable called for a new referendum in the wake of the Withdrawal Agreement’s defeat in the House of Commons.
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John Bercow appeared to suggest he would allow a vote on extending Article 50 if enough MPs pushed for it.
The Commons Speaker was answering a point of order from Labour’s Yvette Cooper, after the former Cabinet minister said with just 70 days until Brexit there needed to be more time to get another deal.
Ms Cooper asked him: “Can you advise the House on what we might be able to do to urge the Prime Minister, for the sake of businesses and jobs and people across the country, to seek an immediate extension of Article 50 now so that this can be sorted out?”
Mr Bercow said: “This will be discussed I’m sure in the days ahead on the floor of the house.”
He added: “Of one thing I am sure; that which members wish to debate and which they determine shall be subject to a vote, will be debated and voted on. That seems to me so blindingly obvious that no sensible person would disagree with the proposition.
“If MPs want to debate a matter and to vote on it, that opportunity I’m sure will unfold in the period ahead.”
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Responding to the Government defeat, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: “Brexit is becoming a national humiliation.
“Liberal Democrats have campaigned since the referendum to give people the final say on Brexit. Theresa May has failed to persuade her party, failed to persuade Parliament and failed in her attempts to scaremonger MPs to back her.
“The Prime Minister now needs to pull her head out of the sand and start acting responsibly by taking the ludicrous threat of a no-deal Brexit off the table. The only way forward for the country is through a People’s Vote where people have the right to choose to stay in the EU.
“It is also time for Jeremy Corbyn to find his backbone, drop his plans for a Labour-led Brexit, and back our calls for a People’s Vote.”
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the House of Commons that Mrs May’s “catastrophic” defeat represented an “absolutely decisive” verdict on her Brexit negotiations and said he has tabled a vote of confidence.
Mr Corbyn said the confidence vote would allow the Commons to “give its verdict on the sheer incompetence of this Government”.
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Seconds after the Government’s defeat was announced, European Council President Donald Tusk took to Twitter.
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Theresa May has addressed the Commons following the defeat.
Mrs May said: “The House has spoken and the Government will listen. It is clear that the House does not support this deal but tonight’s vote tells us what it does support.
“Nothing about how or even if it intends to honour the decision in a referendum Parliament decided to hold.”
The PM said EU citizens in the UK and British expats living on the continent “deserve clarity on these questions as soon as possible”.
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MPs have rejected Theresa May’s Brexit deal by 432 votes to 202, majority 230.
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SNP and Green MPs Carol Monaghan and Caroline Lucas tweeted images of a crowded “no” lobby, where MPs who voted against the Government had congregated.
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Protests continued outside Parliament as MPs voted.
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MPs defeated John Baron’s amendment, which sought to give the UK the right to terminate the Irish border backstop without the agreement of the EU, by 600 votes to 24 – majority 576.
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has posted highlights from his final speech urging MPs to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement.
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Heavily pregnant Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, of Hampstead and Kilburn, appeared in the Commons sat in a wheelchair during the vote on Tory backbencher John Baron’s amendment, which seeks to give the UK the right to terminate the Irish border backstop without the agreement of the EU.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom walked over and had a chat with her.
Ms Siddiq was due to have a Caesarean section on Tuesday but spoke to doctors about delaying her operation until Thursday.
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The PM blasted Jeremy Corbyn’s calls for another general election, saying: “Today’s vote is not about what is best for the Leader of the Opposition, it is about what is best for the country.”
She added that if the country did go back to the polls, whatever the result the choices will still be “no Brexit, no deal, or leaving with a deal”, and with no guarantee an election would change the Parliamentary arithmetic, it would just create “two more months of uncertainty and division”.
Mrs May said the UK has to negotiate a trade agreement, and “we cannot begin this task unless we agree the terms of our withdrawal, and the European Union will not agree to any other deal for that withdrawal”.
She added: “So having ruled out all of these options we’re left with one – to vote for this deal tonight.”
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Prime Minister Theresa May said the debate had seen Parliament at its “most passionate and vigorous”.
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“This is a debate about our economy and security, the livelihoods of our constituents and the future for our children and for generations to come, it goes to the heart of our constitution and no one should forget that it is a democratic process that has got us to where we are.”
Mrs May said the result of the 2016 referendum was “clear and decisive”.
She said: “Parliament gave the people a choice, we set the clock ticking on our departure and tonight we will determine whether we move forward with a Withdrawal Agreement that honours the vote and sets us on course for a better future.
“The responsibility of each and every one of us at this moment is profound, for this an historic decision that will set the future of our country for generations.”
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Theresa May addressed a packed House of Commons.
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Prime Minister Theresa May is making her final appeal for MPs to support the Withdrawal Agreement.
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged MPs not to back the deal, calling it “a reckless leap in the dark”.
He said: “Under this deal in December 2020 we will be faced with a choice – either pay more and extend the transition period or lock us into the backstop.
“At that point the UK would be over a barrel.
“We would have left the EU have lost the UK rebate and be forced to pay whatever was demanded.”
Mr Corbyn added: “This deal is bad for our economy, a bad deal for our democracy and a bad deal for this country. Do the right thing, reject this deal.”
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Tory Remainer Anna Soubry, Independent chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee Frank Field and Conservative Dr Julian Lewis make their comments in the House of Commons as the debate draws to a close.
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Protests continue outside Parliament ahead of the vote.
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Former Brexit secretary David Davis reiterated calls to reject Theresa May’s deal.
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Tory MP John Baron has said that he will not support Mrs May’s deal unless his amendment, which seeks to give the UK the right to terminate the Irish border backstop without the agreement of the EU, is passed by MPs tonight.
The Basildon and Billericay MP explained that his amendment “would give the UK Government the unilateral right to exit the backstop at a time of its choosing”.
He added: “It’s very straightforward, the UK could not find itself indefinitely suspended in a backstop if this amendment is passed. It would allow the UK to choose the time, if it did enter the backstop, a time to exit and it would not have to seek EU approval to do so.”
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Theresa May will make her final appeal to MPs in a statement closing five days of debate ahead of a series of votes, culminating with MPs’ final judgment on her plan at around 8.30pm.
Downing Street has given little indication on how the PM intends to proceed if she is defeated. Under the terms of an amendment passed last week, she must table a motion on her Plan B by Monday.
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As the debate continued, independent chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee Frank Field said he would now vote for the deal.
He said: “I’ve changed my mind because for all the weaknesses of this agreement the Government has put forward to us, for all of its failings, I believe we now risk losing Brexit.
“That doesn’t excuse the Government for their incredible incompetence, it doesn’t mean that some of us when this stage is over won’t push for a Dardanelles type inquiry to find out why we landed at this late hour in this desperate position that we are.
“But I do not wish to live my time as an MP for Birkenhead aiding and abetting those whose real aim is to destroy Brexit.”
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The final day of debate on the Withdrawal Agreement is coming to a close in the Commons ahead of tonight’s vote.
Outside Parliament, there were demonstrations by protesters on both sides of the Brexit debate.
