UK Parliament rejects no-deal Brexit

March 14, 2019 09:10

British MPs have voted to reject the possibility of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement in place, a move set to delay the March 29 Brexit deadline.

British Prime Minister Theresa May had tabled a government motion against a no-deal Brexit within the March 29 deadline, which was passed by the House of Commons with a majority of 43 votes as 321 MPs backed it and 278 opposed it on Wednesday.

This would now require the Commons to pass a new vote, expected on Thursday, which will authorise May to go back to the EU and seek an extension to Article 50 -- the legal mechanism for Britain's exit from the union.

May said there was a "clear majority" against a no-deal Brexit but the "legal default" was that the UK would leave without a deal on March 29 if no deal is reached unless that is legally changed with another vote and EU ratification.

"The legal default in UK and EU law remains that the UK will leave the EU without a deal unless something else is agreed. The onus is now on every one of us in this House to find out what that is," May said in her statement soon after another long Brexit day in the Commons.

She also warned that any extension to the Brexit deadline will be pointless unless the House also set out a plan for the kind of deal it can support.

Before the vote on the government's motion, a non-binding vote tabled to demand that a no-deal Brexit is ruled out under all circumstances marked yet another defeat for May as her Conservative Party MPs defied the government whip to vote in favour of it --312 to 308.

While that vote was intended as indicative rather than prescriptive, it reinforced the Parliament view to ensure that some kind of a withdrawal agreement must be in place before Britain can formally leave the EU.

MPs also voted by 374 to 164 to reject a plan to delay the UK's departure from the EU until May 22, so that there can be what its supporters call a "managed no-deal" Brexit. -- PTI

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