British MPs fail to agree alternative Brexit plan -- live updates

By Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Bianca Britton, CNN

Updated 1150 GMT (1950 HKT) March 28, 2019

What we're covering here:

Parliament reject all Brexit options: After hours debating and voting on alternative routes for exiting the European Union, MPs in the House of Commons failed to back any of the propositions. The non-binding vote calling for a second referendum received the most support from parliamentarians, while a permanent customs union came closest to passing.
Prime Minister's future: Earlier, Theresa May told backbench MPs that she would step down once her Brexit deal has been passed by parliament. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said May's resignation was not about "principles or the public interest" but instead party management.
May's timeline: The Prime Minister has not given a date for her departure but indicated it would be before the next phase of Brexit negotiations with the EU.

63 Posts

Sort by

5:49 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

Results of Brexit indicative votes

Motion (B): No deal

Proposes leaving the European Union without a deal on April 12.

Rejected: 160-400

Motion (D): Common market 2.0

Proposes UK membership of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Economic Area.

Rejected: 188-283

Motion (H) EFTA and EEA

Similar to the Common Market 2.0 approach, but rules out any customs union with the EU.

Rejected: 65-377

Motion (J) Customs Union

Proposes negotiating a "permanent and comprehensive Uk-wide customs union with the EU" in any Brexit deal.

Rejected: 264-272

Motion (K) Labour’s alternative plan

Calls on the UK to be closely aligned with the EU on matters such as the Single Market. Supports a permanent customs union in which the UK has "an appropriate say on any new trade deal terms."

Rejected: 237-307

Motion (L) Revocation to avoid no deal

Proposes if no Withdrawal Agreement is agreed to when the government is two days away from exiting the EU, the government has to have a no-deal Brexit vote. It states if MPs vote against a no deal the Prime Minister has to revoke Article 50 -- the legal process by which Brexit is happening.

Rejected: 184-293

Motion (M) Confirmatory public vote

Proposes that the UK cannot ratify any Brexit deal "unless and until they have been approved by the people of the UK in a confirmatory public ballot."

Rejected: 268-295

Motion (O) Contingent preferential arrangements

Calls for the government to seek preferential trade agreements with the EU if it can't agree a Withdrawal Agreement with the bloc.

Rejected: 139-422

5:45 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

BREAKING: No clear majority for any alternative Brexit option

British MPs have failed to give an outright majority to any of the eight alternative Brexit options considered in the House of Commons.

5:40 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

HAPPENING NOW: Brexit indicative vote results

John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, is announcing the results of the indicative votes after MPs were given eight different Brexit options to vote on earlier this evening.

5:37 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

Theresa May's announcement gets barely an eye roll in town that backed Brexit

From CNN's Anna Stewart in Boston, Lincolnshire

If you expected jubilation from Leave voters following Prime Minister Theresa May's indication that she'll step down once her Brexit deal has been passed, you’ll be disappointed.

Here in Boston, Lincolnshire, where three-quarters of people voted to leave the EU, the news was met with barely an eye roll.

Ian Epton, a 48-year-old Paramedic, said he doesn’t think it will make any difference whatsoever, he’d rather she just concentrated on getting the job done.

“She should remain and we should go for a no deal option, not her deal”, he told me.

48-year-old Ian Epton says he'd rather Theresa May concentrated on "getting the job done." CNN

That’s not to say that Leave voters here don’t feel sorry for Theresa May.

Paul Wait, a 56-year-old slaughterman said he doesn’t like how the Prime Minister has been treated, particularly by the rebellious Brexiteers within the Conservative party.

However, he would rather she stayed on as prime minister, but deliver on the hard Brexit he wanted, rather than the current deal she is pushing.

“She ain’t done the job what we voted for,” he said.

56-year-old Paul Wait would rather Theresa May stays on as Prime Minister. CNN

Anger runs high with politicians in Leave areas like this one, and it isn’t just directed at the Prime Minister.

Julia Howson, a retired teacher aged 65, said, with a sigh, “We are in such a mess and whether she has put us there, or this situation has, I just don’t know."

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, when it happens, but for the moment I don’t have a clue,” she added.

65-year-old Julia Howson says she wasn't sure if the Brexit "mess" was created by Theresa May, or simply the situation of leaving the EU. CNN

How history judges these Brexit years remains to be seen. But Leave areas like Boston are judging them harshly.

All day locals have told me, with great frustration, that the various indicative votes being voted on this evening by lawmakers are a betrayal of democracy.

Options like a second referendum, or staying in a customs union, or a Single Market arrangement don’t deliver the Brexit that they voted for.

5:27 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

Ballots are still being counted, Speaker says

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow has told parliament that tellers have not yet finished counting all the votes on the alternative Brexit options.

Bercow has suspended the House until the results are available.

It's unclear when exactly the results will be announced.

John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons. Parliament TV

5:20 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

BREAKING: House of Commons approves Brexit date change

Lawmakers in the House of Commons have backed the statutory instrument that formally changes the date of Brexit in UK law.

While the UK's departure from the EU had already changed in international law, British MPs needed to approve it as well in order to change UK law.

The extension means Britain will not crash out of the EU on Friday and will have until either April 12 or May 22, depending on whether parliament passes Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement.

5:09 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

DUP will not abstain on May's Brexit deal

Nigel Dodds, the leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party in Westminster, said the party would not abstain on Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal when it's brought forward for a third time.

Coming on the heels of party leader Arlene Foster saying the DUP could not support the deal, that suggests the party’s 10 MPs will again vote against it.

It gives May an uphill battle to swing enough votes to pass her deal, even after her promise to backbenchers a few hours ago that she would quit once this phase of Brexit is over.

4:59 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

HAPPENING NOW: MPs vote on changing date of Brexit

Results expected in under 15 minutes

4:55 p.m. ET, March 27, 2019

BREAKING: DUP will not support Theresa May's deal

Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said it will not support the government if British Prime Minister Theresa May tables a third meaningful vote on her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

In a statement on Twitter, the DUP said it would not support the deal because "necessary changes ... to the backstop have not been secured" and the risk that Northern Ireland "would be trapped in backstop arrangements" is high.

"The current withdrawal agreement does not do so and the backstop, which we warned this Government against from its first inception, poses an unacceptable threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom and will inevitably limit the United Kingdom’s ability to negotiate on the type of future relationship with the EU," the statement said.