Bloomberg: May loses Brexit vote in landslide, faces confidence vote

15 January 2019

Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal was rejected by Parliament in a humiliating defeat, her plan for leaving the European Union all but dead. She faces a confidence vote on her government.

The House of Commons voted 432- 202 against the divorce she painstakingly brokered with the EU over 18 months. The largest parliamentary loss in over a century not only prompted the main opposition Labour Party to make its move to try force an election, it also hardened the EU’s position.

“It is clear the House does not support this deal,” May told lawmakers following the vote. “But tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what it does support,” she said, pledging to talk to her Northern Irish allies and senior politicians across Parliament to try to reach a consensus. “The government will approach these meetings in a constructive spirit.”

A government spokesman later told reporters May doesn’t believe her Brexit deal is dead, and that cross-party discussions could be the basis for future agreement. The spokesman said those talks would begin as soon as Thursday, and that ideas coming from those discussions would need to be put to the EU. [...]

The early signs are that May is likely to win. Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which props up her government, indicated it will support May, as did the group of pro-Brexit Tories which led a failed effort to oust her over her Brexit strategy late last year. [...]

Full article on Bloomberg

Related article on The Guardian: May's government survives no-confidence vote after Brexit defeat

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