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A SLIM majority of MPs expressed their support for a no-deal Brexit this evening.
They voted for Amendment A of PM Theresa May’s no-deal Brexit motion by 312 votes to 308 – a majority of just four.
The amendment has no legal force and Britain will have to agree a deal by 29 March to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Other options being pushed in Parliament are to seek an extension of Article 50 and run a second referendum.
Labour backed the amendment, which rejects a no-deal Brexit at any time and under any circumstances. It was tabled by Labour MP Jack Dromey and Tory MP Dame Caroline Spelman.
MPs also supported the amended the government's motion which rejects a no-deal Brexit at any time and under any circumstances by 321 votes to 278, a majority of just 43.
Despite MPs’ vote to reject a no-deal Brexit, Ms May told the Commons that it remains the default option if no deal was reached.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that Parliament has "decisively rejected her deal and no deal" and that an extension would now be “inevitable”.
He said that he would have meetings in the coming days with members of his frontbench with other MPs to find a "compromise solution" that would get majority support in the Commons. They will be “doing what the Prime Minister has failed to do”, he added.
On Thursday, MPs are scheduled to vote on whether to extend Article 50, allowing more time for negotiation.
However the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt warned on Wednesday against an extension for “even 24 hours” unless there is a clear reason.
It comes after PM Ms May’s Brexit deal was rejected for the second time on Tuesday evening by a majority of 149 votes.
The other amendment to her no-deal motion was Amendment F, in the name of Conservative former minister Damian Green.
It was rejected by a massive 374 votes to 164. It called for a delay to Brexit day from March 29 to May 22 to give time for preparations to leave without a deal in a so-called “managed no-deal Brexit”.
If it passed, it would have allowed government to offer a “standstill” agreement with the EU up to the end of 2021, during which Britain would pay into EU budgets and observe legal obligations while a permanent relationship was negotiated.
