May’s scathing reply to MPs after they reject her Brexit deal by a crushing 230 votes – the biggest government defeat in history
Theresa May vowed to fight on tonight despite her Brexit deal being dramatically crushed in the biggest Commons defeat in history.
The PM’s grip on power was left hanging by a thread after 118 Tory rebels joined forces with Labour to trounce the plan by 432 votes to 202.
The majority of 230 was by far the biggest on record, higher than the 166 defeat for the Labour minority government in 1924. Cheering could be heard by crowds of protesters gathered outside Parliament as the news filtered through – while the EU expressed shock.
Rising to her feet moments after the drubbing, a clearly shaken Mrs May said the government will ‘listen’ and announced she would fight a no-confidence vote tomorrow – effectively daring Jeremy Corbyn to call one. He immediately accepted, saying she had reached the ‘end of the line’.
In a crumb of comfort for the PM, the DUP and the Tory Eurosceptic ERG bloc have made clear they will support the government in the vote being held tomorrow at 7pm, making defeat highly unlikely.
Mrs May jibed that while it was ‘clear’ the House did not support her deal, there was no clarity about what MPs did back.
‘It is clear that the House does not support this deal. But tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what it does support. Nothing about how – or even if – it intends to honour the decision the British people took in a referendum Parliament decided to hold,’ she said.
‘People, particularly EU citizens who have made their home here and UK citizens living in the EU, deserve clarity on these questions as soon as possible. Those whose jobs rely on our trade with the EU need that clarity.’
Remainers and Brexiteers were jubilant about the rout, with Boris Johnson saying it was even larger than he had expected and demanding the Irish border backstop is dropped. Pro-EU factions seized on the outcome to push for a second referendum, with Scottish First minister Nicola Sturgeon hailed the setback for the government, and the Lib Dems saying it was the ‘beginning of the end of Brexit’.
Downing Street sources said in the wake of the devastating result, which threatens to plunge the Brexit process further into chaos, it would be reaching out to ‘senior Parliamentarians’ in a bid to find a way forward. The Pound rose sharply against the US dollar and euro, as markets seemingly concluded that the UK’s departure from the EU had become less likely to happen.