Theresa May loses crunch vote in another massive Brexit defeat

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday suffered yet another massive Parliament defeat over Brexit when MPs overwhelmingly rejected her withdrawal agreement by 149 votes, leaving the March 29 deadline for the deal hanging in the balance.

MPs voted in the House of Commons against the terms of Britain's so-called divorce from the European Union (EU) by 391 to 242.

While this marked a smaller defeat than the 230-vote margin with which they rejected her deal back in January, it was a decisive rejection of government strategy even after May had claimed significant changes to the controversial Irish backstop clause had been achieved.

The British PM made a statement to the Commons soon after the bruising result was announced to confirm that Parliament will vote on a new motion on Wednesday to decide if the UK should leave the EU within the March 29 deadline without any deal in place.

In an unusual move, she revealed that all Conservative Party MPs will be given a free vote on the issue instead of being made to vote in a particular way by the government.

She said: "This is an issue of grave importance for the future of our country. Just like the referendum, there are strongly held and equally legitimate views on both sides."
The EU's Chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said in a Twitter statement: "The EU has done everything it can to help get the Withdrawal Agreement over the line. The impasse can only be solved in the UK. Our 'no-deal' preparations are now more important than ever before."
In a statement, the ERG said: "In the light of our own legal analysis and others we do not recommend accepting the government's motion today."