- The UK is in a deep political abyss
- The MPs the PM depended upon refused to budge
- Government to hold a new vote on Friday
The failure by parliament to agree on any of the eight proposed alternatives to the twice rejected Prime Minister’s proposal on Brexit has plunged the country into an even deeper abyss. The process now remains an impasse even as MPs burn the midnight oil to try and reach on consensus on what to do next.
The BBC outlet reported that the House of Commons failed to garner a majority after their vote for the eight different options they proposed on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, and will conduct a fresh round of vote on Friday.
Confusion continued to reign even after Prime Minister Theresa May played her last card, her job notwithstanding the growing support for her proposed deal with MPs from the ruling Conservative Party.
Further Debate on Friday
Even though a few senior pro-Brexit MPs moved to support the Prime Minister’s last deal, the MPs she had relied on in the DUP refused to budge. The House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom told MPs there was going to be a further debate on what the government was going to offer on the Brexit motion on this coming Friday.
However, it remains unclear whether this will be the straw that will break the camel’s back on the third meaningful vote on the Prime Minister’s deal.
Commons’ Speaker John Bercow had insisted on Wednesday he was not going to allow a third “meaningful vote” on the same motion since the MPs had rejected the same vote two other times with side margins. Mrs. Leadsom told the house:
“The motion tabled will comply with the Speaker’s ruling […] the only way we ensure we leave in good time on 22 May is by approving the withdrawal agreement by 23:00 GMT on 29 March.”
Disappointed By the Lack of a Majority
As BR reported a couple of days ago, the MPs seized the power of the House of Commons on Wednesday and chose to put forward a series of options that should have taken Brexit forward that included leaving minus a deal, the creation of a custom’s union in addition to backing a confirmatory referendum on any deal. However, even after hours of debate none of the eight options fronted by MPs emerged triumphantly.
MP Sir Oliver Letwin of the Conservative Party who superintended the unique process of indicative votes was disappointed by the lack of a majority for any of the propositions. However, he said that no one should make any assumptions regarding the outcome of further indicative votes which he believes could happen on Monday should the PM’s deal fail to receive approval this week. He said:
“It’s very difficult to translate from how people vote the first time when they don’t know how other people are voting, to how they will vote when they can see how other people are voting under new circumstances.”
Theresa May, who is under pressure to step down as a result of her failed Brexit deal had said ahead of Wednesday’s debate that she would quit earlier than planned if she won parliament’s backing over her withdrawal agreement with the European Union.
