British Prime Minister Theresa May
It was being dubbed as the Valentine's Day revolt as British Prime Minister Theresa May faced the prospect of another parliamentary bruising during a Brexit vote in the House of Commons on Thursday evening.
She lost the indicative motion in the House of Commons, with 303 MPs voting against it and 258 for it.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn immediately called on Theresa May – who was not in the Commons chamber for the vote – to "admit her Brexit strategy has failed".
British MPs began debating the future course for Britain exit plans from the European Union (EU) in the Commons, with a vote on the government motion sealing yet another parliamentary defeat for the British PM over Brexit. Hard Brexit MPs had threatened to vote against or abstain in order to defeat the motion, which they feel indicates a no-deal Brexit is being taken off the table as a negotiating tactic with Brussels.
They chose to abstain during the Thursday evening vote, making this Theresa May’s tenth defeat in a House of Commons vote since becoming Prime Minister in the wake of the Brexit referendum in June 2016.
"It makes sense that we keep no deal on the table, because we know the history of the EU that they do make concessions at the last moment. We need to hold our nerve," said Shailesh Vara, who had resigned as a minister in May's Cabinet last year in protest over her Brexit policy.
The government's motion was an indicative rather than a binding vote on Parliament, effectively reiterating support "for the approach to leaving the EU expressed by this House on 29 January 2019".
The reason this had angered Brexiteers within May's own Conservative Party is because the House had backed two motions on January 29 – one seeking an alternative to the controversial Irish "backstop" element of the withdrawal agreement and the second one backed plans for a separate move to stop no-deal Brexit.
The hard-Brexit European Research Group (ERG), led by Tory MP Jacon Rees-Mogg, was leading the latest rebellion to register its opposition against taking a no-deal Brexit off the table.
Downing Street had described the motion as an "anodyne" one in an attempt to persuade MPs to vote in favour to ensure Theresa May’s hand is not further weakened when she returns for negotiations on a withdrawal agreement with the EU next week.
The government fears a defeat, even on a non-binding vote, at this stage would imply that the British PM cannot command a stable majority and the EU would conclude that there is no point making further concessions to the withdrawal agreement.
The deal remains uncertain over the EU's insistence that the backstop clause must remain intact as an insurance policy to ensure there is no hard border between EU member-country Ireland and Britain after Brexit.
However, Brexiteers are insisting on alternatives to that insurance policy because they fear the EU would use it to keep the UK tied to the rules of the economic bloc even after Brexit.
Besides the main motion, MPs also voted on a series of amendments in an attempt to try and influence the Brexit process in a number of ways.
Comons Speaker John Bercow had selected three amendments to be put to a vote.
An amendment by the Opposition Labour Party requiring the government to either give MPs a vote on the withdrawal agreement and political declaration on future UK-EU relations by February 27, or make a statement saying there is no longer an agreement in principle with Brussels and so allow MPs to vote on – and amend – its planned next steps.
That amendment was defeated by MPs, as was a second amendment by the Scottish National Party (SNP) which sought to postpone the Brexit date by at least three months.
A third amendment by Tory backbencher Anna Soubry instructing the government to publish within seven days "the most recent official briefing document relating to business and trade on the implications of a no-deal Brexit presented to Cabinet" was pulled by the MP at the last minute, which meant there was no vote on it.
Even if the amendments had won the backing of a majority of MPs, the proposals are not be binding on the government. However, they were aimed at putting some pressure on Theresa May to change course and influence the future course of Brexit deliberations.
May has promised to return to the Commons on February 26 with a further statement – triggering another debate and votes the following day – if a deal has not been secured by that date.
However, if a deal is agreed, MPs will have a second "meaningful vote" over a month after Theresa May's withdrawal agreement struck with the EU was rejected in a historic Commons vote in January.
The EU has continued to say it will not renegotiate that withdrawal agreement and with just 42 days to go before the March 29 exit deadline, both sides are trying to reach some sort of a compromise to avert a chaotic no-deal crash-out of the UK from the economic bloc.
