Brexit vote: MPs vote by 308-297 to defeat Theresa May and accept Grieve amendment

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MPs vote by 308-297 to defeat Theresa May and accept Grieve amendment

Angry Brexiteers have attacked John Bercow for allowing MPs to vote on a controversial bid that forces Theresa May to produce a plan B within three days if her Brexit deal is rejected.

The cross-party Grieve amendment – passed by 308 votes to 297 – demands the government outline its next steps within three days if Ms May’s deal is defeated, rather than the 21 days plus seven sitting days currently permitted.

It follows an embarrassing defeat for the prime minister on Tuesday, after her government became the first since 1978 to lose a vote on the Finance Bill as MPs made a stand against a no-deal exit from the EU.

As it happened...

Key Points

• MPs vote to force May to present Brexit plan B within days if her deal is rejected
• PM on collision course with parliament over no-deal Brexit after Commons defeat
• ... as 70 per cent think PM has done a bad job of negotiating Brexit
• ... and ministers tell May to force through Brexit by blocking any election until after EU exit

[9 January 2019 08:40 · Ashley Cowburn]

[9 January 2019 08:55 · Ashley Cowburn]

[9 January 2019 08:57 · Ashley Cowburn]

Barry Gardiner, Labour’s international trade spokesman, suggested Jeremy Corbyn would table a vote of no confidence in the government “immediately” after the expected defeat for the deal next Tuesday, in an attempt to force a general election.

“The next thing to do, immediately after that, is for there to be a vote of no confidence in the government,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“The appropriate time to table a vote of no confidence in the government is when the government loses its key legislation and no longer commands a majority in the House of Commons.”

Mr Gardiner said the “country should be demanding a general election”, arguing that would happen “in any other country around the world”.

[9 January 2019 09:11 · Ashley Cowburn]

Theresa May today faces the prospect of a fresh threat to her Brexit plans (yes, another) as MPs launch a bid to force her to reveal her plan B within just days if she loses the critical vote the deal next Tuesday.

Under the current plan, if Ms May's deal is defeated in the Commons, the prime minister has 21 days, plus seven sitting days, to return to the chamber and offer MPs an alternative, or another vote. 

But the amendment to the business motion launched by cross-party MPs makes clear she will be required to return within three days of losing the vote. The MPs claim the "situation is too urgent" to potentially wait until 12 February for the next step.

It is not yet clear whether the speaker, John Bercow, will select the amendment for MPs to vote on later today, but we will know for sure later in the afternoon. 

It follows a humiliating defeat for Ms May less than 24 hours ago, as rebel MPs won a vote making it harder for ministers to force through a no-deal Brexit. Significantly, her government became the first since 1978 to be defeated on a Finance Bill.

[9 January 2019 09:21 · Ashley Cowburn]

Former Tory Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell has described May's Brexit deal as "humiliating" and said he would not vote for it as it stands.

He told the Today programme the deal would "enshrine all those divisions which have caused such trouble in Britain", adding: "It will perpetuate all the divisionism which has led us to where we are today."

[9 January 2019 09:37 · Ashley Cowburn]

It doesn't appear the DUP will be swinging around to save the prime minister before next week's crucial vote on the Brexit deal. 

Speaking on Sky News, the DUP's Brexit spokesperson, Sammy Wilson, said: "The only deal that could swing the DUP round is if the backstop as it applies to the UK as a whole or to Northern Ireland specifically were removed from this agreement."

He added: "Constitutionally and economically if this deal went through it would be ruinous and indeed would do what the IRA failed to do over 40 years of a terrorist campaign."

[9 January 2019 09:54 · Ashley Cowburn]

Senior Conservative MP Nick Boles has told the BBC that he has received his "first death threat" after he was one of over a dozen Tories to vote against the government in the Finance Bill on Tuesday evening in a move to signal opposition against a no-deal Brexit. 

[9 January 2019 09:59 · Ashley Cowburn]

[9 January 2019 10:04 · Ashley Cowburn]

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, has said the party will back the amendment which attempts to force the PM to come to parliament much earlier than expected should she lose the vote next week.

[9 January 2019 10:20 · Ashley Cowburn]