Lawmakers from the United Kingdom on Tuesday (15 January) voted down the Brexit withdrawal agreement negotiated with the EU over the planned departure of Britain from the bloc in March 2019.
The deal which was rejected by the House of Commons by 432 votes to 202 is believed to be the biggest government defeat in recent British political history.
In a swift reaction, opposition Labor leader, Jeremy Corbyn immediately called for a vote of no-confidence in the government, a move that will be debated and most likely voted on, in parliament on Wednesday (today). Corbyn called the vote "greatest defeat for a government since the 1920s".
British Prime Minister Theresa May said she heard the MPs' message, but said that the parliament's vote "tells nothing about what it does support. Nothing about how, if even, it intends to honour the British people's decision," May say.
May said if she survived the no-confidence vote, she will hold talks with the other parties to see what solution might be acceptable and that she will then go back - again - to the EU to consider new plans.
In her speech to MPs on Tuesday evening before the vote, May warned MPs that they risked deepening the disunity, security and long-term economic partnership with the EU if they voted down the deal. She also warned that a no-deal Brexit would damage Britain and that a second referendum would drive the British people further apart.
Corbyn said renegotiations cannot be ruled out if MPs reject the current deal. In a message directed at Brussels, he said: "If parliament votes down this deal, then reopening negotiations should not, and cannot, be ruled out."
Juncker returns
President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, in a statement after the vote disclosed that he "takes note with regret" of the outcome. "The withdrawal agreement is a fair compromise and the best possible deal. It is the only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union," Juncker added that the possibility of a no-deal Brexit increased and preparations for that continue.
"I urge the United Kingdom to clarify its intentions as soon as possible. Time is almost up," Juncker warned.
