Shortly after the disastrous defeat for the negotiated deal with the EU, British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a vote of no confidence with 325 votes to 306.
Rebel Tory MPs and the DUP – who 24 hours ago rejected the PM’s Brexit plan – voted to keep her in Downing Street. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn argued that Mrs May’s “zombie” administration had lost the right to govern. Mrs May said she would start talks with other party leaders to find a Brexit compromise that MPs will back.
Giving her reaction to the result, Mrs May told MPs she would “continue to work to deliver on the solemn promise to the people of this country to deliver on the result of the referendum and leave the European Union”.
She invited leaders of all parties to have individual meetings with her on the way ahead for Brexit – starting tonight – but called on them to approach them with a “constructive spirit”.
We must find solutions that are negotiable and command sufficient support in this House, May said.
Mr Corbyn’s no-confidence motion was backed by all the opposition parties, including the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats. His party has not ruled out tabling further no confidence motions – but Mr Corbyn is under pressure from dozens of his own MPs to now get behind calls for a second EU referendum.
The leader of the SNP in Westminster, Ian Blackford, welcomed the offer of talks from the prime minister, saying it was important for all parties to “recognise the responsibility that we have” after Mrs May’s original deal was voted down. He committed his party to “work constructively with the government”. But he said extending Article 50, the legal mechanism taking the UK out of the EU on 29 March, a further referendum and the avoidance of a no-deal Brexit all “have to be on the table”.
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