Brexit Deal Vote: everything you need to know
- Kate Birch
- Jan 15, 2019
- 2 min read
We’re 15 days into 2019, and parliament is practically at war. Farage is back, MPs are being called Nazis, and May looks like she’s on the verge of a breakdown.
I sat glued to the news watching the events of this historic day unfold in quick succession, but in case you had better things to be doing with your time than getting excited about a vote, here’s a quick breakdown into what on earth happened in what was probably the most dramatic few hours in UK politics to date.
On the 15th January 2019, Parliament gathered to vote on whether to reject or accept May’s highly controversial Brexit deal. This was lost by a majority of 230 (432 MPs voted against, 202 in favour), making it the biggest government defeat in history. 118 of the votes against the deal were from the Prime Minister’s own party.
On the 9th, MPs voted 308-297 (another landslide vote) for an amendment that would give May 3 days to come up with a ‘plan B’. This means Theresa May has until Monday (21st January) to present Parliament with an alternative Brexit deal.
However, according to Matt Hancock (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) in an interview on Politics Live following the vote, the EU have refused to reopen Article 50 negotiations, meaning renegotiating a new deal in just 3 days will be significantly difficult. On top of this, Hancock stated that the government are not looking to extend the withdrawal date, giving the UK under 3 months to finalise leaving arrangements.
Theresa May addressed Parliament after the defeat, urging them that UK nationals living in the EU, EU nationals living in the UK, as well as business owners and those who’s jobs rely on the EU “deserve certainty”. Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn in his address to parliament stressed the importance of protecting citizen rights, and his belief that May is “incapable” of delivering a secure Brexit deal.
If all of this wasn’t enough, in Corbyn’s address he also announced that he had tabled a motion of no confidence to be voted on by parliament tomorrow (16th January). As opposed to a vote within her own party like the motion of no confidence that May faced in December, this will be a House-wide vote. If she loses, this means the House of Commons has lost confidence in the government, and a general election will be triggered, handing over Brexit negotiations to a new government.
If May wins the vote, she will remain Prime Minister (unless she chooses to resign) and still has until Monday to renegotiate a deal.
If she is unable to produce a new deal, or the second deal is also voted down, there are two main possibilities. Either May calls a second referendum (either to decide whether to leave with or without a deal, or as a repeat of the initial independence vote), although this is unlikely given her governments position on the option of a People’s Vote. Or, we leave without a deal with the EU and come under World Trade Organisation trading laws.
Commentaires