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| Brexit: MPs reject May's EU withdrawal agreement | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| MPs have rejected Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement on the day the UK was due to leave the EU. | |
| The government lost by 344 votes to 286, a majority of 58, | |
| It means the UK has missed an EU deadline to delay Brexit to 22 May and leave with a deal. | |
| The prime minister said the UK would have to find "an alternative way forward", which was "almost certain" to involve holding European elections. | |
| Mrs May now has until 12 April to seek a longer extension to the negotiation process to avoid a no-deal Brexit on that date. | |
| With a clear majority in the Commons against a no-deal Brexit, and with MPs holding more votes on alternative plans on Monday, Mrs May said that the UK would have to find "an alternative way forward". | |
| The prime minister said that the outcome was "a matter of profound regret", adding that "I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House". | |
| Responding to the vote, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: "In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council on 10 April." | |
| Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Brexiteer Conservatives, said it was time for Mrs May to quit. | |
| "This must be the final defeat for Theresa May's deal. It's finished. And we must move on. | |
| "It has not passed. It will not pass. I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so that a new leader can deliver a withdrawal agreement which will be passed by Parliament." | |
| Mr Baker was one of 34 Conservative rebels to vote against the agreement, along with the Democratic Unionist Party and the Labour Party. Five Labour MPs voted for the agreement. | |
| This was not a third "meaningful vote" on the PM's EU deal, which also includes a political declaration on future relations between the UK and the EU, and which has previously been rejected by larger margins. | |
| By holding a vote on the withdrawal agreement only, the government had hoped to secure a short delay to Brexit and avoid the UK taking part in May's European elections. | |
| MPs are set to have another go at reaching a Brexit compromise in another series of votes on Monday and Wednesday next week. | |
| If one of the options receives a majority, the government could use it as a basis for negotiating changes to the political declaration. | |
| Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The House has been clear, this deal now has to change. | |
| "There has to be an alternative found. And if the Prime Minister can't accept that then she must go, not at an indeterminate date in the future but now. | |
| "So that we can decide the future of this country through a general election." |