Theresa May dealt Brexit blow as Parliament seizes control

Prime Minister Theresa May leaving 10 Downing Street earlier on Monday.

After an eventful night in the House of Commons, we’re wrapping up our live coverage.

In case you haven’t had enough of tonight’s action, you can read our full report here.

As this phase of the Brexit process grinds towards its excruciating conclusion, mercifully, we might finally be about to learn what can command a majority among lawmakers in the House of Commons. And, in bad news for hard Brexiteers, it looks like their dream is dying.

On Monday night, Members of Parliament indicated to Theresa May that they want to wrestle Brexit out of the government’s hands and take control of the process.

This means indicative votes on Wednesday, in which the Commons will likely coalesce around a softer version of Brexit. If the diehard Brexiteers didn’t like May’s deal, they’re going to hate what could be about to come.

We already know that the majority of the Commons opposes a no-deal Brexit – something the Brexiteers see as a preferable alternative to May’s deal. These indicative votes will likely show us that a majority of MPs also favor closer ties to Europe as a way forward.  

The EU is also committed to avoiding a no deal and getting this mess sorted. At last week’s EU Council summit, 27 European leaders agreed to the UK’s request to extend article 50. But it did so via a dual-track extension, which gives the UK wiggle room to prevent a cliff edge.

The EU’s so-called “flextension” allows the UK the option of delaying Brexit day until May 22, but on the condition that the PM’s deal gets approved this week. If it doesn’t, then it’s not the end of the world: the government will have until April 12 to tell the EU what it wants to do next.

At this point, it’s hard to see any option other than crashing into a no-deal scenario on April 12 or requesting a longer, possibly years-long extension. This would mean the UK remaining in the EU for an extended period and standing in European elections on May 23. And that option, already distasteful enough to Brexiteers, could also open a path to a second referendum and the possibility of Brexit being cancelled altogether.  

With few options realistically available, hard Brexiteers need to think carefully.

Do they want to see MPs take control of Brexit and force through a version of Brexit they hate even more than May’s? Do they want to see Brexit delayed potentially for years?

Or can they hold their noses and, should May bring Meaningful Vote 3 back to the Commons this week, give her the nod she’s been waiting months for?

Theresa May’s wounded Brexit deal is gasping for life. But so too is the dream of a clean break with Europe.

A final point: with Parliament currently united only on the fact that it wants something other than May’s deal and neither main party having a working Parliamentary majority, things beyond Brexit look murky. Traditionally, the only way out of such a deadlock is some kind of public vote. We might be closer to a general election than many realize.

In one of the few light-hearted moments of Monday night’s Parliamentary session, lawmakers took a moment after the key votes to sing Happy Birthday to fellow MP Jim Shannon.

“I’m sure in a cordial spirit colleagues across the house will want to congratulate the honorable gentleman the member for Strangford on his birthday,” speaker John Bercow said.

Speaking after tonight’s votes, Jeremy Corbyn congratulated Parliament for “taking control” of the Brexit process.

“The Government’s approach has been an abject failure and this House must now find a solution,” the Labour leader said.

“The Government must take this process seriously. We do not know what the House will decide on Wednesday. But I know there are many members of this House who have been working for alternative solutions, and we must debate those to find a consensus.

“Where this Government has failed, this House must, and I believe will, succeed,” Corbyn said, adding that Parliament must also consider “whether any deal should be put to the people for a confirmatory vote.”

Jeremy Corbyn welcomed tonight's result from the House of Commons.

The main motion has been approved by 327 votes to 300.

The result simply reinforces the Letwin amendment which allows lawmakers to hold a series of indicative votes on various alternative Brexit options this week.

Labour MP and Shadow Brexit Secretary has tweeted that tonight’s result is “another humiliating defeat” for Theresa May “who has lost complete control of her party, her Cabinet and of the Brexit process.”

“Parliament has fought back,” he added, “and now has the chance to decide what happens next.”

30 Conservative lawmakers defied orders from Prime Minister Theresa May, who whipped her party to vote against the plan to take control of the Brexit process away from the government.

The rebels included three government ministers, at least one of whom – Richard Harrington – tweeted his resignation letter as the amendment went to a vote.

Here’s a breakdown of who voted for the Letwin amendment: 232 Labour, 30 Conservative, 34 SNP, 17 independents, 4 Plaid Cymru, 11 Liberal Democrats, 1 Green.

Votes by party for the Letwin amendment.

British lawmakers have rejected an amendment which called on the government to hold a vote on a no-deal Brexit if the UK is a week away from crashing out of the European Union.

The amendment by Labour’s Margaret Beckett sought to avert a no-deal scenario on April 12 by giving the House of Commons the option to reject a no-deal Brexit and request an extension.

Moments before the result of the Letwin amendment came down, pro-EU business minister Richard Harrington announced his resignation from the government, reportedly in order to vote in favor of the amendment.

“At this critical moment in our country’s history, I regret that the government’s approach to Brexit is playing roulette with the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of people in this country,” Harrington wrote to the Prime Minister.

He said he was resigning in order “to do all I can to prevent this [a no-deal Brexit] from happening.”

MPs are now voting on the amendment by Labour’s Margaret Beckett, which says that if the UK is seven days away from crashing out of the European Union, parliament should be allowed to vote on whether to leave the EU with no deal, or whether to seek a further extension “to give time for Parliament to determine a different approach.”

Results are expected in under 15 minutes.

Parliament has voted to allow lawmakers to hold a series of indicative votes on various alternative Brexit options.

MPs have defied the government and voted in favor of an amendment that gives them control of parliament’s agenda this Wednesday. The passage of the Letwin amendment allows lawmakers to hold a series of indicative votes on various alternative Brexit options. 

Lawmakers could vote on as many as seven different options – which might include a second referendum, crashing out with no deal and a Norway-style deal with the EU – which would give the UK full access to the single market and the European Free Trade area. The votes are non-binding. 

An amendment which was tabled by the UK’s main opposition party, calling for the government to set out time for MPs to debate and find a majority for an alternative Brexit plan, has been withdrawn.

That means parliament will only vote on two amendments this evening.

MPs are now voting on a cross-party amendment, backed by Conservative remainers Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve and Labour’s Hilary Benn, which calls for a series of votes on alternative Brexit plans to take place on Wednesday. The amendment would essentially allow lawmakers to seize control of the Brexit process.

Results are expected in under 15 minutes.

Anna Soubry, who recently left the Conservative party to join a breakaway cross-party bloc known as the Independent Group, has told parliament that lawmakers must take control of the Brexit process to “heal the huge divisions that this ghastly Brexit has created.”

Anna Soubry says that lawmakers must take control of the Brexit process.

In a powerful speech, Soubry – who has been at the receiving end of abuse by vocal pro-Brexit protesters – said that she doesn’t care what it costs her and that she will continue to put the UK and her constituents first.

It comes after British MPs were advised to take taxis home last week, over fears that they could be attacked by members of the public over the handling of Brexit.

One of the stranger elements of today is how much of a broken record the House of Commons sounds.

The UK political class has, throughout the entire Brexit process, become very good at debating exclusively with itself, seemingly unaware that people in Brussels – and across Europe – are paying attention to their Brexit delusions.

Some have held strong to the idea that at the last minute the EU would blink and offer the UK the deal of a lifetime. Others have believed that the EU would take control of the process, effectively willing Brussels to interfere in the UK’s domestic politics.

Last week, the EU gave absolute clarity on its position: it wants to avoid a no deal, but the UK’s destiny really is in the UK’s hands. Now is the time for the House of Commons to come up with something.

Given the sense of urgency, it’s nothing short of extraordinary that, once again, we have listened to MPs talk for hours about the same old stuff.

Conservative MP Nicholas Soames told parliament that Brexit has “degraded” the UK’s reputation, adding that it had “gradually sucked the lifeblood out of the government.”

Scottish National Party Foreign Affairs and Europe spokesman Stephen Gethins has told the House of Commons that it “must seize control” of the Brexit process tonight in order to hold indicative votes and “start to find a way out of this mess.”

“The government has run out of options and run out of ideas and we need to step up,” Gethins said.

“It’s not a farce, it’s a tragedy and a tragedy that’s taking us all down with it.”

He said that Theresa May’s government has “failed spectacularly.”

“I wouldn’t let this lot anywhere near the TV remote in my house, never mind the most important decision that we have to make for generations,” Gethins quipped.

Conservative MP Oliver Letwin, who’s backing the amendment which seeks to take control of the Brexit process from the government, has told the House of Commons his amendment has to be pressed to a vote because it would allow parliament to end the impasse.

“It is not some kind of constitutional revolution,” he told parliament.

“It is an opportunity for the House of Commons to begin – and I want to stress the word begin – the process of working its way towards identifying a way forward that can command a majority in this House.” 

Conservative MP Oliver Letwin.

Theresa May’s de facto deputy has told parliament that he hopes lawmakers will have the opportunity to vote on her Brexit deal again this week.

He said May’s deal was “in the interests of the UK” and one that “both those who supported leave and those who voted remain should be able to rally behind.”

Lidington also told the House of Commons that the government would provide time for MPs to debate alternative ways forward on Brexit if they reject Oliver Letwin’s amendment tonight, which calls for a series of indicative votes.

Letwin asked Lidington if the government intended to “operate exactly the same principals” set out in the amendment.

However, Lidington said he couldn’t “give a commitment immediately for that level of detail.”

Prime Minister Theresa May’s de facto deputy, David Lidington, opened tonight’s Brexit debate by reminding lawmakers that the government had listened when they voted against a no-deal Brexit and in favor of delaying the country’s exit from the EU.

“Neither [vote] was legally binding but in each case the government has honored the wishes of the House,” he told parliament.

“I hope that might provide a modicum of reassurance that in this government we do not, we have not and do not intend to be dismissive in the least of how this House decides or votes.”