MPs warn of plans to block Brexit after May's crushing Commons defeat
Find out how your MP voted on the Brexit deal as Theresa May prepares to face a no confidence motion.
MPs today warned of plans to scupper Brexit after Theresa May’s deal with the EU suffered a crushing defeat.
The meaningful vote on the deal saw MPs oppose it with a majority of 230 – including 118 Tories who mounted the biggest Conservative rebellion in modern times.
It prompted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to immediately call a no confidence motion in the Government, which will be voted on at 7pm today.
The DUP and Tory Eurosceptics have said they will support the Government, making defeat highly unlikely.
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A defiant Mrs May has urged MPs to “get Brexit settled” for the sake of the British people, but her Government now faces a major challenge, with West Bromwich East MP and Labour deputy leader Tom Watson leading calls for a general election.
Tory Brexiteer and Stone MP Sir Bill Cash said defeat meant Mrs May should “consider her position”, while others have warned the deal's failure could see Brexit blocked altogether.
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See how your MP voted:
Wolverhampton:
Pat McFadden, Wolverhampton North East, Labour – against
Emma Reynolds, Wolverhampton South East, Labour – against
Eleanor Smith, Wolverhampton South West, Labour – against
Dudley:
Ian Austin, Dudley North, Labour – for
Mike Wood, Dudley South, Conservative – for
Sandwell:
John Speller, Warley, Labour – against
Tom Watson, West Bromwich East, Labour – against
Adrian Bailey, West Bromwich West, Labour – against
James Morris, Halesowen and Rowley Regis, Conservative – for
Margot James, Stourbridge, Conservative – for
Walsall:
Valerie Vaz, Walsall South, Labour – against
Eddie Hughes, Walsall North, Conservative – against
Wendy Morton, Aldridge-Brownhills, Conservative – for
Staffordshire:
Amanda Milling, Cannock Chase, Conservative – for
Michael Fabricant, Lichfield, Conservative – against
Gavin Williamson, South Staffordshire, Conservative – for
Sir Bill Cash, Stone, Conservative – against
Jeremy Lefroy, Stafford, Conservative – for
Wyre Forest:
Mark Garnier, Wyre Forest, Conservative – for
Record-breaking defeat
The result marked the biggest ever defeat for the Government, and increased the likelihood of a second referendum or a ‘no deal’ Brexit – scenarios that both main parties officially oppose.
Mrs May, who has vowed to return to Parliament on Monday with a ‘Plan B’, said she would reach across the House to fine tune her deal before resuming talks with the EU.
Dudley South MP Mike Wood voted for the deal, saying he feared Remainers were attempting to ensure Brexit was “stolen”.
He said: “We now have a very narrow window to find something that can pass through the House of Commons that respects the result of the referendum, before John Bercow, members of the Opposition and one or two of the Remain supporting Conservative MPs can start wrecking the whole process.
“That means either stopping us leaving at all or making Brexit watered down to such an extent that we may as well have not have left in the first place.
“Up until the last few days we knew we were leaving on March 29, the only question was how and what comes next.
"What we have now seen is that there are a core group of people who are determined to frustrate the decision that voters took in the referendum.
“They will have absolutely no hesitation in tearing up what were understood to be established rules and parliamentary conventions to do it.”
Resignation
Eddie Hughes, the Brexit-backing Walsall North MP, last night resigned as a parliamentary private secretary to vote against the deal.
He told the Express & Star: "People in Walsall North voted to leave the EU to take back control of money, borders and our laws. I campaigned and voted leave to do this. The fact the process is taking so long shows just how much influence the EU has over the UK.
"The Withdrawal Agreement fails on returning control of laws. An Irish backstop we can’t unilaterally walk away from, not only puts the Union in jeopardy but doesn’t return the powers to Westminster. We would be stuck in the EU taking rules, without the ability to walk away or shape them.
"I could not in good conscience vote for an agreement that does not give us the freedom to control our own destiny.
"Every step of the way it’s been clear that many people in Westminster don’t accept the outcome of the 2016 EU Referendum.
"They don’t see why people in Walsall North and the majority across the country should have been able to make a decision they disagree with.
"But they asked us to decide and we did. And the result should be implemented not frustrated.
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"It’s impossible to please all people with so many different scenarios – but I have honoured my pledge to stand up for Walsall North in Parliament and I’ll continue to do so.
"I won’t be joining those who want to stop and reverse Brexit. We are a great country and I have faith that we can be a success outside of the EU."
Elsewhere
Dudley North MP Ian Austin was one of only three Labour MPs to vote for the deal.
Labour’s Pat McFadden, Wolverhampton South East MP and member of the Brexit Select Committee, voted against it.
He said: “This was a crushing defeat for the Government’s Brexit proposal. Parliament has rejected decisively a proposal that satisfied neither Leavers nor Remainers.”
Aldridge-Brownhills Tory MP Wendy Morton was among those to rally around Mrs May.
She said: "It is beholden upon us all to work together and deliver on the result of the referendum of 2016 and that is what I will continue to do."
Cannock Chase MP Amanda Milling said she was "disappointed" with the result. "It is essential that MPs from across the House, put party politics aside, and work with the Prime Minister and Government to find a way forward that delivers on the referendum," she added.
"I will be supporting the Government in the vote of confidence.”
