UK MPs reject 'no deal' Brexit, send PM May back to Brussels to renegotiate divorce deal with EU

British MPs have voted to reject a chaotic 'no-deal' Brexit, but backed embattled Prime Minister Theresa May's bid to renegotiate the divorce agreement already struck with the EU, setting up a new showdown with the powerful bloc which ruled out any more concessions.

In a series of votes on Tuesday, lawmakers rejected a no-deal Brexit by 318 votes to 310, undermining the May government's argument that Britain would be willing to crash out of the 28-member EU without an agreement on March 29.

However, the vote is not legally binding - meaning it showed the view of the House of Commons but does nothing to change the Brexit date in less than two months.

Conservative Party MP Caroline Spelman and Labour MP Jack Dromey had tabled an amendment to try to prevent a crash-out exit of the UK from the EU.

With just 59 days to go until Britain leaves the EU, MPs also voted in favour of an amendment backed by the government to seek "alternative arrangements" to the controversial Irish backstop, which seeks to avert a hard border between Britain and Ireland after Brexit.

May had said she was backing the amendment to re-open negotiations in Brussels with an "emphatic message" of what British MPs want.

The amendment tabled by Tory MP Graham Brady passed by 317 votes to 301 - a majority of 16, which effectively calls on May to renegotiate her Brexit deal with the EU and find an alternative to the controversial Irish backstop.

"We will now take this mandate forward and seek to obtain legally binding changes to the Withdrawal Agreement that deal with concerns on the backstop while guaranteeing no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. My colleagues and I will talk to the EU about how we address the House's views," May said in a statement after the vote.

The UK and the EU negotiated their withdrawal agreement deal over the past 18 months but it needs to be backed by MPs for it to come into force. Earlier this month British MPs voted against the plan May had proposed by 432 votes to 202.

May said that, after taking Tuesday's votes into account and talking to the EU, any revised deal would be brought back to the Commons "as soon as possible" for a second "meaningful vote".

In Brussels, the EU said it was "united" over the negotiated Brexit deal after Prime Minister May said she wants to reopen it.

The bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Wednesday said the EU stood by the existing withdrawal agreement.

"The EU institutions remain united and we stand by the agreement we have negotiated with the UK," he said.

Various EU leaders have made it clear that there will be no revisions to the Brexit deal, with European Council President Donald Tusk saying: "The backstop is part of the withdrawal agreement, and the withdrawal agreement is not open for renegotiation."