Vote of no confidence to be held on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s bid to win parliamentary approval for an agreement on Britain’s exit from the European Union was voted down by a nearly unprecedented margin on Tuesday, calling into question any pathway for a “soft Brexit.”
A total of 432 members of Parliament voted against the deal, versus 202 who voted in support.
Immediately after the vote, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a no-confidence vote, which was to take place on Wednesday.
The overwhelming margin of May’s defeat dims the prospects for considering a reworked version of the deal, with attention among Brexit opponents shifting to the potential for an extension to the exit deadline.
If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) January 15, 2019
European Union officials have said that the deal reached with May’s government was a final offer, while the European Court of Justice decided late last year that the UK can cancel the Brexit decision.
Hardline Brexiteers were unsatisfied with parts of the agreement that tied the UK to certain EU rules, while many opponents of the decision to leave the bloc are calling for a new referendum on whether to remain.
The pound fell as much as 1.5% in anticipation of the final vote results but recovered most of its losses shortly thereafter. Atimes*
