May defeated in British Brexit votes, MPs demand she comes up with plan B

British Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered an early defeat to her Brexit plans, after parliament  voted in favour of demanding the government come up with an alternative Brexit plan within three days of next week’s vote.

With less than three months before Britain is due to leave the EU, parliament has begun a five-day battle over May’s Brexit plan, set to culminate in a vote by MPs next Tuesday.

May has refused to retreat from her unpopular deal, which envisages close trading ties with the EU after leaving in March.

She is pressing ahead with a vote that she looks set to lose, after failing to win over her nominal Northern Irish allies.

Losing the vote would deepen uncertainty over the future of Brexit, Britain’s biggest shift in foreign and trade policy for more than 40 years. There are several possible outcomes, ranging from a disorderly exit to another referendum.

MPs voted 308-297 on Wednesday in favour of demanding the government come up with an alternative plan within three working days after Tuesday’s vote, rather than a planned 21-day limit, in a non-binding motion that nonetheless piles pressure on the government.

There were turbulent scenes in parliament when some in May’s Conservative Party accused the speaker of bias.

Reuters