British Prime Minister, Theresa May, Tuesday evening suffered a humiliating and historic defeat as her Brexit deal is voted down by 432 to 202.
\nLabour Leader, Jeremy Corby, immediately called for a vote of no confidence on her government, while the European Union (EU) sought to know the United Kingdom’s next line of action.
\nMeanwhile, the Washinton Post, May stood almost alone on Tuesday, as many in her own party prepared to abandon their leader and reject her unloved Brexit deal \u2014 leaving Britain\u2019s future relationship with the European Union unclear.
\nWith Tory vote-counters predicting a humiliating defeat in a momentous vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday night, historians were searching the past for comparisons.
\nSome scholars had to go as far back as the 19th century to find a comparable party split and parliamentary defeat \u2014 to Prime Minister William Gladstone\u2019s support for Irish home rule in 1886, which split the Liberal Party.
\n\u201cThe events in Parliament today are really quite remarkable,\u201d said Cambridge University political historian Luke Blaxill. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d Meaning, usually British parties fight with one another in Parliament \u2014 they don\u2019t tear their own parties in half.
\nOutside Parliament on Tuesday, the scene was raucous as thousands of protesters on both sides, many in costumes or waving flags, gathered \u2014 illustrating how unsettled and divisive Brexit remains more than two years after voters opted in a\u00a02016 June referendum\u00a0to leave the European Union. It was the largest balloting in British history.
\nBrexiteers banged drums and rang a \u201cliberty\u201d bell, while pro-E.U. demonstrators handed out \u201cbollocks to Brexit\u201d stickers in Parliament Square beside two huge video screens set up for the live broadcast of the final speeches and then the vote.
\nJeff Wyatt, 54, a pro-Brexit voter, was holding aloft a placard that accused May of treason. Another man in the crowd suggested that the prime minister should face the executioner\u2019s ax.
\n\u201cFor the first time in the history of my country, we\u2019ve got Parliament against the people,\u201d Wyatt said, gesturing at the Palace of Westminster.
\nOver the past weeks, with growing fervor, May has warned Conservative Party members of Parliament that they gambled all if they voted down her half-in, half-out compromise plan.
\nThe British leader argued that rejection of her plan could bring about a fraught \u201cno-deal\u201d Brexit, loaded with financial risk.
\nOr worse, she warned, opponents of Brexit could succeed in their drive to call for a second referendum on whether to remain in or leave the continental trading bloc.
\nThe prime minister suggested that Brexit supporters might even lose that second vote and be saddled with a bitterly divided nation and the status quo.
\n\u201cIf we don\u2019t vote for this agreement, then we risk playing into the hands of those who do not want Brexit to go ahead,\u201d Environment Secretary Michael Gove told BBC Radio on Tuesday.
\nBut frustration and anger over how May has handled the long, slow negotiations with Brussels has been mounting.
\nLayla Moran, a Liberal Democrat member of Parliament, spoke for many when\u00a0she told the BBC, \u201cBrexit is a complete cluster shambles.\u201d
\nBritish political reporters estimated that as many as 100 Conservative members of Parliament might vote against May\u2019s deal, joining the opposition Labour Party and others, including Northern Ireland\u2019s Democratic Unionist Party, which helps prop up May\u2019s minority government but hates her Brexit deal.
\nFinancial Times columnist\u00a0Robert Shrimsley wrote\u00a0that it appeared May was hurtling toward \u201cthe most shattering rejection of any prime minister in modern times.\u201d
\nHe wondered, \u201cWill it be 200 or only 100? Might Theresa May surprise us all and lose by a mere 50 or 60 votes? It is a measure of the looking glass world of British politics that a crushing reverse on the most important piece of legislation the prime minister will ever introduce is discussed as a bump in the road rather than as the administration-ending loss it should be.\u201d
\nMay almost pleaded with her fellow Tories on Monday to take \u201ca second look\u201d at her plan. \u201cIt is not perfect,\u201d she said, \u201cBut when the history books are written, people will look at the decision of this House and ask, \u2018Did we deliver on the country\u2019s vote to leave the E.U., did we safeguard our economy, security or union, or did we let the British people down?\u2019\u00a0\u201d
\nWhat happens next?
\nIf May\u2019s deal is rejected by Parliament, she has until Monday to return to the chamber with her \u201cPlan B.\u201d Her office has been tight-lipped about what that might be.
\nHer supporters say she will not resign, even in the face of a crushing defeat. They suggest instead that May might return to Brussels, to seek new concessions over the controversial provisions about the Irish border \u2014 or even attempt to reopen talks. It is also possible that she might seek negotiations among all parties in Parliament to see what kind of deal, if any, they could agree upon.
\nAt the same time, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure to immediately call for a \u201cno confidence\u201d vote against May. It is likely that he would lose that vote \u2014 as Tories will not want to see May chucked and a general election called..
\nAdditional reports by Washington Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British Prime Minister, Theresa May, Tuesday evening suffered a humiliating and historic defeat as her Brexit deal is voted down by 432 to 202. Labour Leader, Jeremy Corby, immediately called for a vote of no confidence on her government, while the European Union (EU) sought to know the United Kingdom’s next line of action. Meanwhile, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}