May to hold vote on no-deal Brexit after second crushing defeat

Prime Minister Theresa May will ask lawmakers to rule out Britain leaving the European Union without an agreement on Wednesday, after they overwhelmingly rejected for a second time the Brexit deal she has negotiated with the EU.

May’s motion asks parliament’s elected main house, the Commons, to reject a no-deal Brexit but notes that “leaving without a deal remains the default in UK and EU law unless this house and the EU ratify an agreement.”

If, as expected, the lawmakers agree the motion in a free vote, she has promised another vote on Thursday on extending the Brexit process, just 15 days before Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29.

After a crushing defeat in the second “meaningful vote” on her Brexit deal late Tuesday, May said she remained “passionate about delivering the result of the [2016 Brexit] referendum.”

“But I equally passionately believe that the best way to do that is to leave in an orderly way with a deal and I still believe there is a majority in the house for that course of action,” she said.

“And I am conscious also of my duties as prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of the potential damage to the union that leaving without a deal could do when one part of our country is without devolved governance,” May added.

She was referring to the suspension of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government for more than two years.
DPA, 17th MARCH, 2019