Hot on the heels of its heavy defeat in the “meaningful vote”, the Government survived a vote of “no confidence”. The motion had been tabled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a move designed to force a General Election following MPs’ resounding rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
- The Government won the no-confidence vote by 325 votes to 306
- PM Theresa May will return to MPs within days with an amended proposal
- The Brexit deadline of 29 March 2019 remains unchanged
Hot on the heels of its heavy defeat in the "meaningful vote", the Government survived a vote of "no confidence". The motion had been tabled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a move designed to force a General Election following MPs' resounding rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal.
“A high-stakes political rollercoaster ride (BCC)”
The Government won the no-confidence vote by 325 votes to 306, having lost the "meaningful vote" by 432 votes to 202. 118 Conservative MPs had rebelled and voted against the deal, alongside all ten MPs of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP); nevertheless, as expected, all opted to back the Government in the no-confidence vote. The last vote of no confidence in the Government was held in 1979. It was carried by a single vote (311 to 310) and resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister James Callaghan and the subsequent election of Margaret Thatcher.
Now that the Government has survived the vote, the process of trying to reach an accord over Brexit will continue. Theresa May will return to the House of Commons in a matter of days with an amended propsal; there is, however, little evidence to suggest that European leaders have any desire to restart discussion. Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said: "It is now for the British Government to clarify how the United Kingdom wishes to proceed in organising the orderly withdrawal which it requested". Meanwhile, First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said: "It is not for us to speculate on what sort of Brexit we will have. We will now have to wait for what is going to happen in the House of Commons ... and we will have to take it from there".
The clock is still ticking and the UK is still locked into the Brexit deadline of 29 March 2019. Michel Barnier warned: "We are only ten weeks away from the end of March, the moment when the UK has chosen to become a third country … the risk of a no deal has never been so high”. The lack of clarity is taking its toll on UK businesses; the British Chambers of Commerce said: “There are no more words to describe the frustration, impatience, and growing anger amongst business after two and a half years on a high-stakes political rollercoaster ride that shows no sign of stopping”.
