Brexit vote: UK parliament rejects ‘no-deal’ option

London, England – With just over two weeks to go until the Brexit deadline, the British Parliament voted on Wednesday to rule out leaving the European Union without a deal.

The government had put forward a motion to rule out no deal on March 29, the current deadline. The motion was amended and MPs narrowly voted in favour of ruling out no deal under all circumstances, with 312 votes in favour and 308 against.

The amendment is not legally binding, and a version of it was passed in January.

The vote does not rule out no deal altogether.

A deal or another alternative needs parliament’s approval, but no deal has been the default position since Article 50 of the EU treaty – setting the rules for leaving the block – was triggered.

MPs also voted down an amendment which resurrected elements of the “Malthouse compromise’ for a “managed no deal”, supported by prominent Brexiters. The amendment also includes a delay to May 22 for preparations.

Similar plans have been rejected by the EU over 18 months of negotiations.

Another major defeat

Today’s vote took place as a result of yet another major defeat for prime minister Theresa May on her Brexit deal on Tuesday, when she lost a second “meaningful vote” by a margin of 149.

Fears that a no deal Brexit could have serious consequences for the UK economy and its citizens in the EU, as well as EU citizens in the UK, have increased since May’s deal was first voted down last January. Small and medium-sized businesses in particular have admitted they’re not ready for a no-deal scenario.

MPs will be called to cast another vote tomorrow on delaying Brexit.

If that is the outcome, the prime minister will put forward a formal request to the European Union for an extension of Article 50.

Prime minister Theresa May wants to avoid an extension that would oblige the UK to take part in the European Parliament elections starting on May 23 while in the process of exiting the block.

That means the new deadline would have to be before the new assembly’s first sitting on July 2.

Any extension of Article 50 would have to be agreed by all 27 remaining EU member states. The next opportunity to do that will be on March 21-22, when the next European Council convenes.

‘I don’t want a long extension’

The EU has said time and time again that in order to grant the UK an extension, it would need to see a good justification for it and its duration.

“I don’t want a long extension,” said the European Parliament’s lead Brexit spokesman, Guy Verhofstadt, addressing MEPs in Brussels on Wednesday.

“An extension, where we go beyond the European elections, and the European elections will be hijacked by the Brexiters,” said Verhofstadt.

“We will talk only about [Brexit], and not about the real problems, and the real reforms we need in the European Union,” the spokesman added.

Verhofstadt hit out at former UKIP leader and MEP Nigel Farage by saying that a long extension would only give the lead Brexiter a new mandate to “continue to have a salary that he can transfer to his offshore company” while trying “to destroy the European Union from within”.

In response, Farage urged EU leaders to veto the Article 50 extension “so that both you and we can get on with the rest of our lives”.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said after parliament rejected May’s deal that the risk on a no-deal Brexit, whether by plan or by accident, “has never been higher”.

Environment secretary Michael Gove hinted that tomorrow the government may also move to hold a series of indicative votes on Brexit options.