UK’s May calls off MPs’ vote on her Brexit deal

Prime Minister Theresa May has called off Tuesday’s crucial vote on her Brexit deal so she can go back to Brussels and ask for changes to it.

As it stands the deal “would be rejected by a significant margin” if MPs voted on it, she admitted.

But she said she was confident of getting “reassurances” from the EU on the Northern Ireland border plan.

But European Council President Donald Tusk said the remaining 27 EU countries would not “renegotiate” the deal.

While EU leaders would be willing to “discuss how to facilitate UK ratification” of the withdrawal agreement at Thursday’s summit in Brussels, he suggested the controversial Northern Irish backstop, which the DUP and many Tories want removed, would remain in place.

The prime minister’s U-turn came after she and senior ministers had spent days insisting the vote would go ahead, despite the scale of opposition from MPs being obvious

t prompted angry scenes in the Commons, with MPs from all sides complaining that the government had denied them the right to have any say in the move.

Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, who accused Mrs May of “losing control of events” and “disregarding” MPs, was granted an emergency debate in the Commons on Tuesday while Commons Speaker John Bercow said the government’s handling of the issue had been “regrettable”.

And Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, was expelled from the Commons after grabbing the ceremonial mace and trying to take it out of the chamber.

He was stopped by an officer of the House who returned it to its place on the table.

In other Brexit developments

• The pound dived to an 18-month low against the dollar when news of the delayed vote broke
• The European Court of Justice ruled the UK can cancel Brexit if it wants
• Commons Speaker John Bercow called on the government to give MPs a vote on whether Tuesday’s vote should be cancelled. But his plea was rejected by Downing Street

Any indication of a new timeline for vote?

Theresa May refused to say when the Commons vote on her deal would now be held – saying it would depend how long fresh talks with the EU last.

Some MPs called for it to come back to the Commons before Christmas, but Mrs May would only say the final deadline for the vote was 21 January.

She said the the UK’s departure date from the EU – 29 March next year – was written into law and the government was “committed” to delivering on it.

Conservative Remainer Justine Greening said she hoped the PM would not wait until 28 March before holding the vote.

source: BBC