MPs rejected a Labour and Tory rebel plot to take control of Parliament’s timetable, essentially blocking the latest attempt to stop the UK of leaving the EU without a deal. The Government won the vote by 309 votes to 298 – a majority of 11. The result was greeted with cheers from the Conservative benches.
What happens now?
If the motion had passed, it would have given opponents of a no-deal Brexit the chance to table legislation to rule out the UK leaving without any agreement on the October 31 deadline.
Downing Street said giving MPs a “blank cheque” to dictate Brexit policy would have set a troubling precedent.
The rejected cross-party effort means that the UK could still leave the EU without a deal.
READ MORE: PMQs LIVE: May and Corbyn go head-to-head amid Westminster turmoil
Could no-deal Brexit happen?
A no-deal Brexit could happen, with multiple of the Tory leadership candidates aiming to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister open to the scenario, although many say it’s not preferred.
Prime Minister hopeful and frontrunner Boris Johnson is among those who have said the UK must leave the EU by the revised date, whether a deal is passed or not.
The MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip said he is “not aiming for a no-deal outcome”, but leaving the scenario on the table was a “vital tool of negotiation” and the UK “must do better than the current withdrawal agreement”.
He said: “Delay means defeat, delay means Corbyn.”
But Chancellor Philip Hammond said it was “impossible” to leave by then.
He told a Bloomberg conference it was “not sensible” for leadership hopefuls to “box themselves into a corner on this” as Parliament “will not allow a no-deal exit”.
Originally, the UK was supposed to leave the bloc on March 29, but after MPs rejected Mrs May’s Brexit deal three times, the EU decided on a seven-month extension until October 31.
Andrea Leadsom, one of the Tory leadership candidates, has said it will not be possible for Parliament or the speaker to block a no-deal Brexit if the Government is determined to deliver it.
She said on Tuesday: “You can’t block no deal. You can’t put into law that you can’t leave without a deal.”
