Britain’s Parliament voted on Tuesday in favour of a proposal that calls on the government to replace the so-called Northern Irish backstop with alternative arrangements to secure the support of Parliament for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
The amendment, put forward by influential Conservative lawmaker Graham Brady, won 317 votes to 301, and strengthens May’s hand when she returns to Brussels to try to renegotiate the Brexit deal — something the EU has so far ruled out.
“We will now take this mandate forward and seek to obtain legally binding changes to the Withdrawal Agreement that deal with concerns on the backstop while guaranteeing no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland,” May said in the House of Commons.
“As I said this afternoon, there is limited appetite for such a change in the EU and negotiating it will not be easy. But in contrast to a fortnight ago, this House has made it clear what it needs to approve a Withdrawal Agreement.”
After the vote, European Council President Donald Tusk reiterated that the EU-U.K. divorce deal was not up for renegotiation.
“The Withdrawal Agreement is and remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union,” Tusk said via a spokesperson.
“The backstop is part of the Withdrawal Agreement, and the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation.”
Non-binding no-deal amendment
Lawmakers also voted in favour of a proposal calling on the government to rule out leaving the European Union without a deal.
The 318 to 310 vote went against Prime Minister Theresa May, who says the only way to take a so-called “no-deal” Brexit off the table is to vote in favour of an agreement with the EU.
Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray holds up a placard Monday. Protesters both for and against Brexit are a daily sight outside the Houses of Parliament. (Alastair Grant/Associated Press)
The so-called Spelman amendment “rejects the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a Withdrawal Agreement and a framework for the future relationship.”
The amendment — which is non-binding — sends a signal that Parliament as a whole opposes leaving the EU without a negotiated agreement, which will happen by default on March 29 if no alternative is agreed, but it does not compel the government to prevent such a departure.
“I agree that we should not leave without a deal,” May said. “However, simply opposing no deal is not enough to stop it. “The government will now redouble its efforts to get a deal that this House can support.”
Parliament voted down several other amendments that would wrest control of the Brexit negotiations from May if she fails to secure concessions from Brussels.
With exactly two months left until Britain is due by law to leave the EU, Parliament was trying to find some way forward by debating and voting on what changes it wants May to seek to her deal.
May asked the divided British Parliament Tuesday to send a message to Brussels that it would support her European Union withdrawal deal if a plan to avoid a hard border in Ireland is replaced.
Brussels says ‘no’ on reopening deal
Parliament has been in deadlock since May’s Brexit plan, agreed after months of talks with the EU, was rejected by an overwhelming majority in Parliament.
With exactly two months until Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, there is no agreement yet in London on how and even whether to leave the world’s biggest trading bloc.
Parliament was trying on Tuesday to find some way forward by debating and voting on what changes it wants May to seek to her deal.
“Today we have the chance to show the European Union what it will take to get a deal through this House of Commons, what it will take to move beyond the confusion and division and uncertainty that now hangs over us,” May told Parliament before five hours of debate on possible ways forward.
“I also accept that this House does not want the deal I put before it, in the form that it currently exists…. Today we need to send an emphatic message about what we do want.”
Brussels has repeatedly said it does not want to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement, which has been signed off by the other 27 EU leaders, and has said there must be a “backstop,” a guarantee to ensure there is no return to a hard border between Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.
“We will not reopen the Withdrawal Agreement. So it may be about semantics of what ‘reopening’ means,” an EU diplomat involved in Brexit talks said. “If things go towards more declarations, assurances or statements — we can do that. But if she really wants to reopen the whole thing, then it’s a no.”
Fears of no-deal
Unless lawmakers agree on a way forward, or the EU agrees to extend the negotiating period, Britain will leave without any deal, a scenario that businesses fear will bring chaos to the world’s fifth-biggest economy.
There have been warnings that borders will snarl up, hurting trade and leading to shortages. On Monday, major U.K. supermarkets and fast-food restaurants said food supplies could be seriously disrupted.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Ireland expected to ask Brussels for emergency aid in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
At the centre of many pro-Brexit lawmakers’ concerns is the Irish “backstop,” an insurance policy aimed at preventing a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland. It would require EU rules to apply in Northern Ireland if no other solutions can be agreed.
Tuesday’s votes were not a rerun of the Jan. 15 vote on whether to approve May’s Brexit deal, but a chance to discover what sort of changes would be required to win the support of Parliament, so the prime minister can try to renegotiate the
agreement in Brussels.
May said she would hold a second “meaningful” vote on her deal as soon as possible.
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