The BBC is reporting that Theresa May could be delaying a vital vote on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement which is scheduled to take place tomorrow (December 11).

The Prime Minister is expected to give a speech outside Downing Street at 3.30pm today, where it is understood she will announce that tomorrow’s vote is being delayed.

That will be followed by a statement from Commons leader Andrea Leadsom - and then a statement from the Brexit secretary on Article 50.

Two cabinet sources have told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Tuesday’s planned Brexit vote will be delayed.

There is not yet any official confirmation of the move, and Downing Street had been insisting the vote would go ahead despite Mrs May being widely expected to lose it.

But a third Cabinet source has told the BBC the vote is “definitely off”.

The vote, which is likely to not pass through parliament due to political divisions, would see MPs voting on Theresa May’s Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and whether the country should press ahead with Theresa May’s Brexit. </s> London, United Kingdom - With the clock counting down to Britain's scheduled departure from the European Union, UK legislators have voted down embattled Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a second time this year.

A second so-called "meaningful vote" on Tuesday ended with another heavy defeat for the prime minister, with 391 MPs voting against and 242 supporting the deal.

The last time May put the agreement to parliament, in January, she again suffered a major defeat as the deal agreed with the EU over 18 months of painstaking negotiations was defeated by a margin of 230.

This time it was 149.

Tuesday's vote came just 24 hours after May made a last-minute dash to Strasbourg for a meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission. Two documents were published as a result of the meeting, which May said would deliver the legally-binding changes to the withdrawal agreement MPs had asked for.

But it soon became clear that those changes would not be enough to win the vote.

"We recognise that the prime minister has made limited progress in her discussions with the European Union. However in our view sufficient progress has not been achieved at this time," said a spokesperson for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), May's ally in Northern Ireland.

May had been tasked with securing changes to the so-called "backstop" protocol of the withdrawal agreement, which critics in the hardline wing of her ruling Conservative Party and the DUP say would trap the UK within the EU's trade rules indefinitely, or see Northern Ireland being treated differently from the rest of the country.

They asked for either a time limit on the backstop, or a unilateral exit clause for the UK.

The attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, published his legal opinion on the new documents saying that they did not fully eliminate the risk of the UK getting stuck in the backstop. When questioned by MPs on his statement, he did say, however, that the documents contain provisions to ensure a "significant reduction in that risk".

What happens now?

May promised to hold two more votes in the coming days. The first, on Wednesday, will see MPs decide on whether to rule out a no-deal Brexit, 16 days before the UK's scheduled departure from the bloc on March 29.

If legislators opt against departing without an agreement on future relations, the government will hold another vote the following day on whether to request an extension to Article 50 - the exit clause in the EU's constitution - from Brussels in a bid to buy more time as it seeks to strike a different divorce deal.

Such an extension could be short-term or long-term. The latter however, would mean the UK taking part in the European Parliament elections on May 23-26, a scenario the prime minister wants to avoid.

A longer extension could also create the momentum for a second referendum campaign, particularly now that the main opposition Labour party supports it.

"I profoundly regret the decision this house has taken tonight," May said in a speech after Tuesday's vote, adding that extending a departure from the EU would not solve the UK's current political impasse.

"The EU will want to know what the house wishes to do with an extension. Does it wish to revoke Article 50? Does it wish to hold a second referendum? Or does it want to leave with a deal but not this deal? These are unenviable choices, but thanks to the decision that the house has made this evening, they are choices that must now be faced."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the result meant May's plan for leaving the EU was "dead" and called on the government to adopt his proposals for an alternative departure from the bloc.

The EU has said no other terms of withdrawal are available to the UK other than the deal brokered with May during months of fractious back-and-forth negotiations, however.

A spokesperson for European Council President Donald Tusk said the second rejection of the agreed withdrawal plan "significantly increased" the risk of a "no-deal" divorce.

"Should there be a UK reasoned request for an extension, the EU27 will consider it and decide by unanimity," the spokesperson added, citing the 27 members of the bloc minus the UK.

The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, meanwhile, said the bloc had done "everything it can to help get the Withdrawal Agreement over the line".

"The impasse can only be solved in the UK. Our 'no-deal' preparations are now more important than ever before," Barnier said in a tweet.

The EU would have to sign off any decision made this week at the next EU council summit on March 21-22. </s> Theresa May's government has tonight survived a vote of no confidence.

MPs voted 325 to 306 in favour of allowing the Prime Minister's administration to remain in power, despite the Brexit turmoil.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled the motion last night after MPs voted 432 to 202 against Mrs May's EU Withdrawal Agreement.

During a six-hour debate today in the Commons, Mr Corbyn argued that Mrs May's "zombie" administration had lost the right to govern.

But the outcome of tonight's vote means Mrs May and her cabinet can now continue Brexit negotiations with the EU.

The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29. </s> MPs are to vote on the Government’s EU Withdrawal Agreement on Friday.

But the motion will not count as a third attempt to pass a “meaningful vote” on Theresa May’s deal, because it will not cover the future relationship with Europe.

Commons Speaker John Bercow cleared the motion for debate, ruling that it complies with parliamentary conventions which bar ministers from asking MPs to vote repeatedly on the same proposals.

If passed by MPs on Friday, the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

But it would not allow Parliament to go ahead and ratify the withdrawal deal, as Brexit legislation allows this only after the passage of a “meaningful vote” on both the Withdrawal Agreement and a Political Declaration on the future relationship.

Moving the motion to enable the debate to take place on March 29 – initially slated as Brexit day – the Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom urged MPs to back the deal “so that we can leave the EU in an orderly way that gives businesses and people the certainty that they need”.

Labour has already declared that it will not back the Government in Friday’s vote, warning that it risked “the blindest of all blind Brexits”.

Downing Street has said that Mrs May will not move to a third meaningful vote – known in Westminster as MV3 – unless she believes she has a realistic chance of success, having seen it defeated by 230 votes in January and 149 in March.

But it is understood that Number 10 believes that passing the Withdrawal Agreement alone would allow the UK to guarantee its departure date and avoid the need for Britain to take part in European Parliament elections on May 23-26.

This would buy time to seek wider agreement among MPs on the shape of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, in the hope of passing MV3 in April and leaving with a deal on May 22.

Significant doubts remain over whether Mrs May can secure a majority for the Withdrawal Agreement alone on Friday.

The Agreement includes the controversial “backstop” customs arrangements for the Irish border which continue to represent the biggest obstacle to support from the DUP and Brexit-backing Tories in the European Research Group.

And shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer made clear that Labour does not support the separation of the Withdrawal Agreement from the Political Declaration.

The move could leave the UK facing “a Boris Johnson Brexit, a Jacob Rees-Mogg Brexit or a Michael Gove Brexit” after Mrs May stands down, he warned.

“We would be leaving the EU, but with absolutely no idea where we are heading,” Sir Keir told a conference of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

“That cannot be acceptable and Labour will not vote for it.”

If the motion fails, the UK will have until April 12 to ask for a further extension to Brexit negotiations – which would require voters to choose new MEPs – or leave the EU without a deal. </s> Following months of political wrangling, MPs will finally decide whether or not to approve Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan in what has been called the “meaningful vote”. Mrs May has so far failed to convince large members of politicians, including Conservative Party members, of her vision for the EU Withdrawal Agreement The stakes for tomorrow’s vote were raised further after a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling this morning said the UK can now cancel Brexit without requiring permission from the rest of the European Union (EU). A 27-judge panel ruled shortly after 8am: “The United Kingdom is free to revoke unilaterally the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU."

This means if politicians reject Mrs May’s deal tomorrow, Labour could try to push for a general election or a second referendum on Brexit. What time is Brexit vote on 11th December 2018? Six amendments on Brexit are scheduled to start at 7pm on Tuesday, December 11, with the "meaningful vote" following. A House of Commons spokesman told Express.co.uk a result on the “meaningful vote” on Brexit could be expected at about 8.30pm. The vote is the common name given to Section 13 of the UK’s European Union Withdrawal Act 2018, which puts into law that the deal must be approved first by Parliament. READ MORE: BREXIT LIVE: HOW THERESA MAY COULD BE SAVED FROM DISASTER BY BENN’S NO-DEAL AMENDMENT

If the vote is passed, the draft deal will still need to be put to the House of Lords for approval. But if MPs go against it, the government will get a second chance to try to push it through a few days later. Labour has already said it opposes Mrs May’s deal and is likely to call a general election straight away. They will need the support of 100 opposition members to do so - a difficult proposition.

A second referendum is much more likely although Brexiteers are hugely opposed to this being put on the table. Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt earlier warned British lawmakers there would be “real risks” if they vote down Theresa May’s deal tomorrow. Although he said Mrs May was not happy with all the conditions, including the controversial backstop arrangement, it remained the only viable option. Mr Hunt said: “(But) it gives the vast majority of things that people voted for and there are real risks if we don't grab this opportunity while we have it.” </s> MPs must decide tomorrow whether the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal after they handed Theresa May another humiliating defeat and robbed the Prime Minister of any control over the Brexit process.

Conservative Brexiteers and the Government’s DUP allies refused to be swayed by last-minute assurances over the Irish border backstop and sent her deal to a second crushing defeat, by 391 votes to 242.

A Commons vote will be held tomorrow night on whether to reject a no-deal Brexit.

READ MORE: Brexit: Sturgeon uses vote defeat to justify Scottish independence push

Mrs May confirmed Conservative MPs would be given a free vote despite insisting throughout the Brexit process that the UK would leave the EU with or without a deal.

A spokesman for European Council president Donald Tusk warned that rejection of the proposed deal for a second time, with just 17 days left until the UK’s scheduled departure “has significantly increased the likelihood of no-deal Brexit”.

Markets-sensitive information was set to be released early tomorrow morning on the import tariffs the UK will impose if it does crash out without a Brexit deal, and on management of the Irish border.

The Chancellor is also expected to set out how the Government will respond to a no-deal Brexit when he delivers the Spring Statement tomorrow.

If MPs reject a no-deal Brexit, they will be asked on Thursday whether to request an extension to Article 50 and delay the UK’s scheduled departure date of 29 March. Mrs May confirmed she would ask Brussels for an extension if ordered to by the Commons, although Downing Street said the Government would only seek a short delay of a few months.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Prime Minister’s deal was “clearly dead” and called for a general election.

“The Prime Minister is threatening us all with the danger of No Deal, knowing full well the damage it will do to the British economy,” Mr Corbyn said.

“The Prime Minister has run down the clock and the clock has been run out on her.“

Nicola Sturgeon said the Prime Minister and the government “should be hanging their heads in shame” and demanded that Brexit be delayed and a no-deal outcome ruled out.

“We now have a government that has effectively ceased to function and a country that remains poised on a cliff edge,” the First Minister said.

“Scotland’s needs and voice have been ignored by the UK Government throughout the Brexit process, and today a handful of DUP MPs held more sway over Scotland’s future than our own national Parliament – that demonstrates more clearly than ever that the case for Scotland becoming an independent country has never been stronger.”

Just 38 Tory MPs who helped deliver a record 230-vote defeat for her deal in January changed their minds after a last-minute dash to Strasbourg to secure assurances on the backstop on Monday, and appeals from the Prime Minister yesterday.

“I profoundly regret the decision that this House has taken tonight,” Mrs May told MPs moments after the result was confirmed.

“I continue to believe that by far the best outcome is that the UK leaves the EU in an orderly fashion with a deal, and that the deal we have negotiated is the best and indeed the only deal available.”

The Prime Minister said the country now faced “unenviable choices” even if MPs vote to delay Brexit.

“Let me be clear,” she said. “Voting against leaving without a deal and for an extension does not solve the problems we face.

“The EU will want to know what use we mean to make of such an extension.”

READ MORE: Brexit: Nicola Sturgeon ‘told she wasn’t bright enough’ to understand May’s deal

With the EU ruling out any further renegotiation of the Brexit agreement, Downing Street did not rule out bringing it back before MPs if they reject no-deal.

Mrs May told MPs they would vote tomorrow night on a motion that states: “This House declines to approve leaving the European Union without a Withdrawal Agreement and a Framework on the Future Relationship on 29 March 2019; and notes that leaving without a deal remains the default in UK and EU law unless this House and the EU ratify an agreement.”

Amendments over the next two days are likely to include proposals for a second EU referendum, which the Prime Minister admitted was now an option.

EU leaders warned they would not automatically grant a delay to Brexit, which must be approved unanimously by all 27 other member states.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “Should the UK hand in a reasoned request for an extension, I expect a credible and convincing justification.

“The smooth functioning of the EU institutions needs to be ensured.”

“On EU side we’ve done all that’s possible to reach an agreement,” Mr Tusk’s spokesman said. “It’s difficult to see what more we can do. If there’s a solution to the current impasse it can only be found in London.” </s> Theresa May is giving MPs another chance to vote on Brexit in early June - whether or not the government and Labour have reached a deal by then.

A vote on the bill that would pave the way for Brexit was "imperative" if the UK was to leave the EU before MPs' summer recess, Downing Street said.

Labour sources say they will not back the bill without a cross-party deal.

If Mrs May's plan is defeated, Number 10 said the UK is set for no deal or for Article 50 to be revoked.

That is because the EU will not grant a further extension beyond 31 October, says BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay also said the deal the PM negotiated with the EU would be "dead" if the bill did not pass.

Attempts to find a cross-party compromise began after Mrs May's Brexit deal was rejected three times by MPs.

But government sources have told the BBC that there would not be a further attempt if the plan is rejected.
• PM all but out of time to pass Brexit deal

The vote - which will take place when MPs return from half-term recess - would bring the withdrawal agreement into UK law via the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.

The prime minister has negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the EU, which MPs have effectively rejected three times in Commons votes.

No 10 described Tuesday evening's discussions between Mrs May and Mr Corbyn on Brexit as "both useful and constructive".

Mrs May had made clear the government's "determination to bring the talks to a conclusion and deliver on the referendum result to leave the EU", a spokesman said.

A Labour party spokesman said Mr Corbyn had "raised doubts over the credibility of government commitments, following statements by Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers seeking to replace the prime minister".

He said the Labour leader had called for "further movement" from the government and the prime minister's team would bring back "further proposals tomorrow".

Bringing the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill forward would allow the prime minister to push ahead with her ambition of delivering Brexit before the summer - despite the lack of agreement so far in the cross-party talks, said BBC political correspondent Iain Watson.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said: "It is now time for Parliament to make a decision, reflecting the manifestos of both the Conservative and Labour parties at the last general election and to deliver Brexit in the way that the public were promised."

In the 2017 general election, the two main parties promised in their manifestos to respect the result of the Brexit referendum.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said that if MPs do not vote for the government's Brexit plan next month, then it will "take us to either the potential of revocation of Article 50 or leaving without a deal".

He said MPs will have to decide "if they want to vote for Brexit or not".

Brexiteer and Conservative MP Steve Baker said bringing the bill forward "over the heads" of DUP MPs - on whom the government relies for a majority - would "eradicate the government's majority".

"What is the government thinking?" he asked.

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said: "If the prime minister brings the withdrawal bill to the Commons for a vote, the question will be, 'What has changed?'.

"Unless she can demonstrate something new that addresses the problem of the backstop, then it is highly likely her deal will go down to defeat once again."

The backstop is the controversial part of the withdrawal deal that aims to ensure an open border on the island of Ireland if the UK leaves the EU without securing an all-encompassing deal.

It's not exactly the same thumbs up or thumbs down that another meaningful vote would be. That is a straightforward yes or no to the divorce deal that the prime minister negotiated with the EU.

This time, it will be the Withdrawal Bill which is a whole tome of new laws that will be needed to take us out of the European Union.

The draft of that bill is still being kept under wraps. Very, very few people have seen it. It's much more detailed than just a vote on the agreement would be.

Of course, that gives people more things to object to.

Although Theresa May might have pleaded in cabinet that people on all sides have to move away from absolutism, and move to a mood of compromise, there's not much sign of it.

As and when that bill actually emerges, that may well - in the words of one cabinet minister - make things worse before they can get better.

What is the Withdrawal Agreement Bill?

The UK needs to pass a law to implement the withdrawal agreement - the part of the PM's Brexit deal which will take the country out of the EU - in UK law.

This is a requirement under the terms of previous Brexit legislation passed last year.

The legislation would make the citizens' rights part of the agreement directly enforceable in UK courts, and set their relationship with the EU's Court of Justice.

It will also allow ministers to make "divorce payments" to the EU foreseen under the current deal, and give effect to the so-called backstop plan for the Irish border.

MPs will be able to vote on amendments to the bill, and this could allow ministers to make good on any compromise they reach with Labour in the cross-party talks.

If the bill is introduced in the first week of June it will come seven days after the European Parliament elections - which Education Secretary Damian Hinds has acknowledged could be "difficult" for the Conservatives.

A state visit by US President Donald Trump and a by-election in Peterborough will also take place that same week. </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May has postponed a vote in parliament on her plan for Britain's exit from the European Union, after it became clear her government was facing a massive defeat.

This was another tumultuous day in British politics. Parliament was headed toward a historic vote on a deal for Brexit tomorrow, but it faced almost certain defeat. So today, Prime Minister Theresa May pulled the plug.

PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY: We will therefore defer the vote scheduled for tomorrow and not proceed to divide the House at this time.

SHAPIRO: That leaves the U.K. uncertain about how it will leave the European Union as the March 29 deadline for the country's exit draws closer. NPR London correspondent Frank Langfitt is with us again. Hi, Frank.

SHAPIRO: Rough day for the prime minister. She's been working on this deal to leave the EU for two years. Her ministers and she had been saying the vote would definitely take place tomorrow. How does she explain this about-face?

LANGFITT: Well, Ari, she said what everybody kind of knew, and that is she did not have the votes, which is an understatement. People thought she could've lost this by up to a hundred votes, which would put her - would've put her job in even more jeopardy than it already is. It's not clear when or if she can actually get the support she needs, and there's no new date for a vote. So things are really, really uncertain right now.

SHAPIRO: Where does this leave Prime Minister May's plan for exiting the European Union, a plan that had a lot of support from other European countries?

LANGFITT: Yeah, they signed off on it. She has said she's going to go back to the European Union to explain why members of Parliament don't like her deal, which, by the way - the EU knows all this. But the EU has said it's not going to reopen this agreement. So it puts certainly the prime minister in a very difficult position.

Donald Tusk - he's the president of the European Council. He said today, we are ready to discuss how to facilitate U.K. ratification. That could mean some reassuring language - but definitely not reopening this thing. We have less than four months to go before the U.K. leaves the EU, and it's not really clear how this is going to play out. This could go well past Christmas. We're just not sure.

SHAPIRO: Well, remind us what makes this deal so unpopular. Why do so many people in Parliament oppose it?

LANGFITT: Yeah, well, if the U.K. and the EU can't figure out a way to avoid building new customs posts on the island of Ireland, as we've discussed before, one scenario would have Northern Ireland ending up in a much closer customs arrangement with the European Union than with the United Kingdom. Of course the United Kingdom - Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom. And the U.K. wouldn't have any unilateral way to end this, so they're afraid that they could kind of get stuck in this arrangement for a long time.

Now, many British politicians understandably see this as undermining basically the union of the United Kingdom. Now, Nigel Dodds is a deputy leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party. This is what he had to say in the House of Commons today.

NIGEL DODDS: Does she not get it by now that the withdrawal agreement legally binding text is unacceptable to this House? And she cannot pretend going on defending the deal when she knows that if the vote had taken tomorrow, it would've been overwhelmingly defeated.

SHAPIRO: So, Frank, explain what options Theresa May has now. It seems unlikely that she can get the support to pass this deal, and the EU says they're not open to negotiating a different deal. What can she do?

LANGFITT: A lot of people think that she's playing for time. I was talking to Anand Menon, and he's professor of European politics at King's College in London. And he thinks what she's going to do is go back to Brussels and get the EU basically to spell out that they won't give a better deal to any different prime minister, and that could help her fend off her many potential challengers. And then what she might do is turn around and pressure members of Parliament and basically say, you know, if you don't take this deal, my deal, you risk leaving the EU with no deal at all, leading to an economic calamity. And here's what Anand Menon said.

ANAND MENON: If she decides that actually we're not going to have this vote until January, that really does increase the pressure because we're getting to the point at which no deal is looking increasingly likely just by mistake because we're getting so close to that legal date of the 29th of March. At that point, it will be this deal or no deal.

SHAPIRO: Just briefly, Frank, how much of a threat is this to Prime Minister May's leadership?

LANGFITT: It's tough. Brexiteers in her own party have been threatening for months to challenge her. Labour has also threatened, but it says it's not going to call a no-confidence vote unless it knows it has a good chance of winning, which it doesn't at the moment.

LANGFITT: Happy to do it, Ari. </s> British prime minister Theresa May has been defeated over her Brexit plan B on Thursday.

Asked to “reiterate its support for the approach to leaving the EU” expressed by the House of Commons on January 29th, it voted 303 against the motion, tabled by the government.

The prime minister was not present for the vote.

She had been seeking MPs’ backing for her approach to renegotiating her withdrawal agreement with the EU after the House of Commons emphatically rejected it last month.

Although Mrs May is seeking to finalise a revised Brexit deal with the EU, she has repeatedly refused to rule out the possibility of the UK crashing out of the bloc without an agreement.

But Eurosceptic Conservative MPs are angry that a government motion about Mrs May’s strategy that they are being asked to approve on Thursday “welcomes” recent votes in parliament, including one rejecting a no-deal Brexit.

Many Eurosceptics argue that a no-deal option is necessary as a negotiating tactic with Brussels.

“It makes sense that we keep no deal on the table, because we know the history of the EU that they do make concessions at the last moment,” said Shailesh Vara, who resigned as a minister in protest at Brexit policy. “We need to hold our nerve.”

Some members of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, are now expected to abstain in the vote on Thursday, which could result in the government motion being rejected, and thereby undermine Mrs May’s credibility with Brussels.

Adding to the prime minister’s difficulties, Europhile Conservative MPs criticised Brexit secretary Steve Barclay after he said that the UK could leave the EU without a deal on March 29 despite parliament having voted against such a possibility.

Caroline Spelman, the Conservative MP who spearheaded the Commons vote last month against leaving without a deal, suggested that the government was “contemptuous” of the Commons.

MPs were asked to vote up to four times on Thursday. Three amendments to the government motion have been selected for debate: one by Labour, which seeks to force the government to give MPs a further vote on Mrs May’s strategy on February 27th; another by the Scottish National party, calling for steps to revoke Brexit; and a third by Europhile MPs, ordering the release of the government’s no-deal assessments.

This third amendment, led by the Conservative Anna Soubry and Labour’s Chuka Umunna, was later withdrawn.

Mr Barclay tried to assuage Eurosceptic Tories in his speech at the start of the Commons debate on Thursday. “We do need as a parliament to hold our nerve, and we do need to send a clear signal to those in the European Union with whom we’re discussing this deal,” he said.

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said Mr Barclay was “all over the place on all of the important issues”, and accused Mrs May of “running down the clock, hoping to get to March or even the end of March” before presenting MPs with a choice of her withdrawal agreement or a no-deal Brexit. – Financial Times
Prime Minister Theresa May announces the deferral of the meaningful vote on the UK's negotiated withdrawal agreement from the European Union that was scheduled for tomorrow.