British MPs reject no-deal Brexit, raising chances departure from Europe will be delayed
- Parliament will be offered another vote on Thursday, to see if it wants to postpone leaving the European Union - a move that would require EU consent
- But the chief EU Brexit negotiator says talks have been ‘done and dusted’ and questioned the need for any more discussions
British lawmakers voted on Wednesday to reject leaving the European Union without an agreement, after they overwhelmingly rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan a day earlier.
Many lawmakers feared warnings that leaving the EU without a deal could lead to economic disruption, clogged ports and stalled travel in Britain and Europe.
Parliament’s rejection Wednesday of a no-deal Brexit, by 321 votes to 278, now means MPs are almost certain to seek to delay the scheduled March 29 departure from the EU - although this would require European ratification. May told parliament that it will be offered a vote on the delay on Thursday.
But what then?
The prime minister said that parliament must now face up to the consequences of its decisions. She said that if a deal could be agreed to in the coming days, she would ask the EU for a short “technical” extension to the March 29 exit day deadline. If no deal emerges, the delay would need to be much longer, she said.
The gridlock that has seized the House of Commons has rattled European leaders. They have grown anxious that May is losing her authority and her way, fighting against a raucous, divided parliament and increasingly assertive Conservative Party rebels who want to leave the EU with no deal.