 |
| May |
No majority for any options after MPs' votes
None of MPs' eight proposed options for Brexit have secured clear backing following a Commons vote.
Calls for a customs union with the EU were rejected by 272 to 264 votes while a call for a referendum to endorse any deal was rejected by 295 to 268 votes.
Brexit Secretary Steven Barclay said the results strengthened the government's view that their deal was "the best option".
He told MPs it was clear there was no "simple way forward".
Labour's alternative plan for Brexit - including "close alignment" with the single market and protections for workers' rights - was defeated by 307 votes to 237.
Five other propositions - including backing for a no-deal exit, the so-called Common Market 2.0 plan, a proposal to remain in the European Economic Area and one to stop the Brexit process by revoking Article 50 - all failed to secure the backing of a majority of MPs.
The failure to identify a clear way forward out of the current deadlock led to angry exchanges in the Commons with critics of the process saying it had been "an abject failure".
Brexiteer Mark Francois said "this attempt to seize the order paper" by MPs had failed and the public would be looking on "with amazement".
Conservative MP Sir Oliver Letwin, who oversaw the unprecedented process of indicative votes, said the lack of a majority for any proposition was "disappointing".
While he said he believed MPs should be allowed to have another go at reaching a consensus on Monday, he said this would not be needed if the PM's deal was approved before then.
Independent Group MP Anna Soubry said more people had voted for the idea of another referendum than voted for Mrs May's deal on the two times it had been put to Parliament.
And Labour MP Dame Margaret Beckett, who put forward the motion for a confirmatory referendum, said the objective had not been to identify a single proposition at this stage but to get a sense of where a compromise may lie by, in her words, "letting a thousand flowers bloom".
Commons Speaker John Bercow said the process agreed by the House allowed for a second stage of debate on Monday and there was no reason this should not continue.
Calls for a customs union with the EU were rejected by 272 to 264 votes while a call for a referendum to endorse any deal was rejected by 295 to 268 votes.
Brexit Secretary Steven Barclay said the results strengthened the government's view that their deal was "the best option".
He told MPs it was clear there was no "simple way forward".
Labour's alternative plan for Brexit - including "close alignment" with the single market and protections for workers' rights - was defeated by 307 votes to 237.
Five other propositions - including backing for a no-deal exit, the so-called Common Market 2.0 plan, a proposal to remain in the European Economic Area and one to stop the Brexit process by revoking Article 50 - all failed to secure the backing of a majority of MPs.
The failure to identify a clear way forward out of the current deadlock led to angry exchanges in the Commons with critics of the process saying it had been "an abject failure".
Brexiteer Mark Francois said "this attempt to seize the order paper" by MPs had failed and the public would be looking on "with amazement".
Conservative MP Sir Oliver Letwin, who oversaw the unprecedented process of indicative votes, said the lack of a majority for any proposition was "disappointing".
While he said he believed MPs should be allowed to have another go at reaching a consensus on Monday, he said this would not be needed if the PM's deal was approved before then.
Independent Group MP Anna Soubry said more people had voted for the idea of another referendum than voted for Mrs May's deal on the two times it had been put to Parliament.
And Labour MP Dame Margaret Beckett, who put forward the motion for a confirmatory referendum, said the objective had not been to identify a single proposition at this stage but to get a sense of where a compromise may lie by, in her words, "letting a thousand flowers bloom".
Commons Speaker John Bercow said the process agreed by the House allowed for a second stage of debate on Monday and there was no reason this should not continue.
No comments