British MPs reject Brexit deal despite May securing changes to backstop
British lawmakers on Tuesday rejected May's Brexit deal for a second time with 391 votes against, 242 in favour, Euronews reports.
MPs first rejected the deal on January 14 by a margin of 230, handing May the worst defeat of any sitting government in British parliamentary history.
The prime minister said immediately after the vote that MPs now face "an unenviable choice" and said she still believes that her deal is the best and only deal available.
May said if lawmakers backed a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, it would become government policy.
A division list released by the Commons website shows that 75 Conservative MPs rebelled against May. They were joined by 232 Labour MPs, 17 independent MPs, and every single MPs from Scotland's National party (35), the Liberal Democrats (11) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (10).
In favour of the deal were 235 Conservative MPs, 4 independent MPs and 3 Labour parliamentarians.
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition labour party, said the result shows her deal "is clearly dead."
He added that Labour will put its proposal forward again, which includes "a negotiated customs union, access to the (single) market and protections of rights."
"The Prime Minister has run down the clock," he went on, "maybe it’s time instead we had a general election."
European Council President Donald Tusk said in a statement: "We regret the outcome of tonight's vote and are disappointed that the UK government has been unable to ensure a majority for the Withdrawal Agreement agreed by both parties in November."
"On the EU side we have done all that is possible to reach an agreement," he went on and said the result "has significantly increased the likelihood of a 'no-deal' Brexit."
He reminded British lawmakers that should they vote for an extension of Article 50, "the EU27 will expect a credible justification for a possible extension and its duration," arguing that "the smooth functioning of the EU institutions will need to be insured."
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker explained on Monday evening in a letter after an 11th-hour negotiation with May in Strasbourg that the UK's "withdrawal should be complete before the European elections that will take place between 23-26 May" as otherwise the country "will be legally required to hold these elections."
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