Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she would ask the EU to delay Brexit again to avoid Britain crashing out of the bloc next week, signaling she could accept a closer relationship with Europe to break months of political deadlock.
Members of Parliament on Monday once again failed to find a majority on any alternative Brexit plan before them, leaving Britain's chaotic path towards leaving the EU mired in uncertainty less than two weeks before its departure date. Brussels has set Britain an Apr 12 deadline to agree to the divorce terms Prime Minister Theresa May has struck with the bloc, find an alternative or crash out of the European Union.
The petition calling on the UK Government to halt the Brexit process has passed six million signatures. The Revoke Article 50 petition, due to be debated by MPs this Monday, is the best-supported proposal in the history of the House of Commons and Government’s e-petitions website.
Tory MPs are warning Theresa May they will resist any attempt by the Prime Minister to call a snap general election in a bid to end the Brexit crisis engulfing the party. MPs from both the pro-Brexit and pro-EU wings of the party warned they could face an electoral disaster if she goes to the country early.
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday mulled a possible fourth attempt to get her Brexit agreement through parliament, faced with the growing risk of a chaotic no-deal exit in less than two weeks' time. MPs on Friday resoundingly rejected May's deal, although by a substantially lower margin than on two previous occasions in January and March.
With British lawmakers rejecting Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third on Friday what could happen next? Britain is left with three general directions: back a deal, end up leaving with no deal or negotiate a long delay to work out a new strategy.
Thousands of Leave supporters gathered outside Parliament to protest against the delay to Brexit, on the day the UK had been due to leave the EU. Traffic was brought to a standstill, amid chants of Brexit now. The March to Leave, which started in Sunderland a fortnight ago, has also arrived in Westminster.
Members of Parliament have rejected Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement on the day the UK was due to leave the EU. The government lost by 344 votes to 286, a margin of 58. It means the UK has missed an EU deadline to delay Brexit to 22 May and leave with a deal.
The EU free-trade deals that the UK government has managed to roll over are incomplete, say trade experts. The UK Trade Policy Observatory told Newsnight the deals cannot guarantee trade will continue for British companies in a no-deal Brexit.
MPs will be asked to vote again on Brexit on Friday but only on part of the deal negotiated with the EU. They will vote on the withdrawal agreement on the Irish backstop, divorce bill and citizens' rights. But it will not amount to a third meaningful vote on the deal, as it will not include a vote on the UK's future relationship with the EU.