May rips up Brexit deal; to seek backstop changes from EU
Brussels insists withdrawal agreement 'not open for renegotiation'
MPs back Brady amendment calling for 'alternative arrangements'
Prime Minister Theresa May tore up her Brexit deal on Tuesday night as MPs voted for the government to push the European Union for an alternative to the Irish backstop.
An amendment tabled by Sir Graham Brady was passed by 317 votes to – 301. It called for the controversial backstop to be replaced with unspecified “alternative arrangements”.
However, EU President Donald Tusk said immediately after the vote: “The backstop is part of the withdrawal agreement and the withdrawal agreement is not open for re-negotiation.”
This view was echoed by Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in an almost identical statement, saying the withdrawal deal was “a carefully negotiated compromise, which balances the UK position on customs and the single market with avoiding a hard border and protecting the integrity of the EU customs union and single market”.
Another amendment, rejecting a no-deal Brexit, also won the support of Parliament, but the vote was not binding - meaning the date for exit remains 29 March.
Main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would now meet the prime minister to discuss the way forward having earlier refused to hold talks until she ruled out a no-deal Brexit.
"Parliament has voted to remove the immediate threat of crashing out without a deal on 29 March. After months of refusing to take the chaos of no deal off the table, the prime minister must now face the reality that no deal is not an option," he told the House of Commons.
Five other amendments were defeated, including Labour MP Yvette Cooper's attempt to extend Article 50 if May failed to get her deal through parliament.
The backstop is designed to stop a hard border between Ireland and the six Northern Irish provinces administered by England if Britain and the EU cannot agree a free trade deal.
A spokesman for Tusk said the EU was prepared to consider an extension of Article 50 - the mechanism that takes a member state out of the bloc - "should there be a UK reasoned request".
“The EU27 will adopt this decision, taking into account the reasons for and duration of a possible extension, as well as the need to ensure the functioning of the EU institutions.”
Capital Economics senior economist Ruth Gregory said while the vote may have been a good result for May it was "arguably not the best news for the near-term outlook for the economy and the pound as it probably increases the chances of a no deal".
"This explains why the pound slipped from $1.32 against the dollar to $1.31 on the news."
"With no consensus in parliament for either an extension of Article 50 or a shift towards a softer Brexit, tonight’s vote has given May the green light to go back to the negotiating table and try and push her deal though a deeply divided parliament in the next “meaningful vote” on 14th February."
"At least Brady’s amendment, which advocates that the Irish backstop be replaced with “alternative arrangements”, might strengthen Theresa May’s negotiating hand with the EU. As such, the chances of her deal may have risen from around 5% to 15%."
"More likely, though, is that it simply delays things and keeps the risk of a no deal Brexit on 29th March alive (we’d put the chances at around 30%, up from 25% previously). After all, the EU has suggested that it will not reopen the withdrawal agreement and alter the Irish backstop."