• Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered another Brexit defeat after the House of Commons on Thursday rejected a motion seeking endorsement for her Brexit plans.
• MPs voted 303 to 258 to reject the government’s motion after dozens of pro-Brexit MPs abstained.
• Some Brexit advocates argued that the motion would have effectively ruled out a no-deal Brexit.
• May had asked MPs to send a “clear message” to the European Union.
• It is the eighth time the government has lost a House of Commons vote on Brexit.

LONDON – Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered another Brexit defeat in the House of Commons after rebel Conservative MPs abandoned their support for her plans to break from the European Union.

The prime minister had asked MPs to send a “clear message” to the EU about their desire for “legally binding changes” to her Brexit deal, with the UK’s scheduled exit just weeks away.

But in another day of Westminster drama, MPs voted 303 to 258 on Thursday evening to reject the prime minister’s motion seeking endorsement for her plan to renegotiate the controversial backstop for Northern Ireland.

A majority of Conservative MPs in the pro-Brexit European Research Group abstained from the vote, which is what led May’s government to its eighth Brexit defeat in the House of Commons.

The prime minister’s opponents called on her to change course.

“Tonight’s vote shows there is no majority for the prime minister’s course of action on Brexit,” the Labour Party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, told MPs immediately following the vote.

“Yet again she has been defeated. The government cannot keep on ignoring parliament.”

David Lammy, a Labour MP who supports the anti-Brexit Best For Britain campaign, described the result as a “massacre for the government and a damning indictment of the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan.”

He added: “The Prime Minister has nowhere left to hide.

“Her threats to throw the country off a cliff edge if MPs do not vote for her deal will be exposed as deeply cynical by a leader more concerned with the future of her party than her country. She should now rule out no-deal and put her deal to a public vote with the option of remaining in the EU.”

Thursday’s vote wasn’t legally binding, but it had symbolic weight and puts even greater pressure on May to change her Brexit strategy.

The vote was originally expected to be a straightforward victory for the government as it sought a repeated endorsement for a motion previously passed by MPs two weeks ago.

But pro-Brexit MPs in the European Research Group abstained on the prime minister’s motion, as they believed it also endorsed a previous amendment that called on the government to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay had insisted in the Commons that a no-deal Brexit was still possible. Conservative rebels accused the government of “doublethink,” however, after ministers refused to rewrite their motion.

“We’re now truly entering the world of George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth,” Conservative MP Bill Cash told the Commons.

“In his book 1984, Orwell said doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and expecting both of them. This double motion is doublethink in action and I cannot possibly vote for it.”

Pro-Brexit MPs were split on whether to back the prime minister, with some members of the anti-EU European Research Group breaking to back May’s motion.

The result means the prime minister will return to Brussels later this month without the clear support from Parliament for a renegotiated deal.

It will also add to growing pressure on May to shift toward backing a customs union with the EU to win support from Labour and other opposition parties. </s> LONDON– British Prime Minister Theresa May has won a confidence vote by Conservative Party lawmakers that could have brought her leadership to an abrupt end.

In secret ballot on Wednesday, 200 lawmakers backed May and 117 voted against her.

The result means May can keep her positions as party leader and prime minister while continuing an uphill battle to win parliamentary approval for her Brexit plan.

Her victory means fellow Conservatives cannot challenge her for another year.

May could still face a challenge in Parliament if the opposition Labour Party seeks a confidence vote in the House of Commons over the EU divorce plan.

She plans to lobby European Union leaders for changes to the proposed divorce deal, which is unpopular with many lawmakers. </s> LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May won the support of her bitterly divided Cabinet on Wednesday for a draft deal to leave the European Union after months of stalled talks, bickering and setbacks that have threatened the messy divorce known as Brexit as well as May's leadership.

May secured the backing of her Cabinet for the deal with the EU following an "impassioned" five-hour debate. May confirmed the development during a short statement outside No. 10 Downing Street, the British leader's official residence.

"I firmly believe, with my head and my heart that this is a decision which is in the best interests of the United Kingdom," she said, referring to the support from her Cabinet as a "collective agreement." She didn’t say whether the deal received unanimous backing.

Securing Cabinet approval was an important step for May, but the deal still needs approval from the EU at a summit in the next few weeks. Then May will need to win backing from Britain's Parliament, where pro-Brexit and pro-EU legislators alike are threatening to oppose it. A disorderly exit from the EU is still a possibility.

Britain is due to leave the bloc in March. On Tuesday, it broke a four-month-long logjam with EU negotiators over the terms of its withdrawal, including a plan to keep the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland open after Brexit.

A statue of Winston Churchill is silhouetted against the Houses of Parliament and the early morning sky in London on June 24, 2016.

But pro-Brexit lawmakers in May’s divided Conservative Party are angry, saying the agreement will leave Britain tethered to the EU after it departs the bloc. Failure to secure Cabinet backing would have left May’s leadership in doubt and Brexit in chaos.

"Theresa May’s Brexit agreement is the worst deal in history," Nigel Farage, the British politician and broadcaster who helped engineer the June 2016 Brexit vote, tweeted. Farage represents Britain in the European Parliament in Brussels.

May herself told lawmakers earlier Wednesday that the draft deal "takes us significantly closer to delivering what the British people voted for" when they decided to leave the bloc. She said the deal means that Britain will "take back control" of its laws and borders "while protecting jobs, security and the integrity of our United Kingdom."

Britain's former Foreign Secretary William Hague said a failure to back the draft deal could have led to a new Brexit referendum and even a general election.

"It would probably mean a different government," Hague said in a BBC radio interview. He add that another Brexit referendum "might not resolve matters" that if it did happen it would be "the most divisive and bitter political conflict in this country in 100 years, and very economically damaging."

Britain voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48% in the vote. Some polling data indicate that if there were a second Brexit vote a majority would chose to stay in the EU. May has repeatedly rejected the idea of holding a second vote.

May is expected to give a statement to Parliament on Thursday. Aspects of the deal that will be detailed in the coming days include Britain's trade relationship with the EU and what rights the 3.8 million EU nationals who live in Britain will retain after the divorce.

More: How much is Brexit costing Brits? A lot — and the tab keeps rising </s> Theresa May is braced for a furious backlash from Tory Brexiteers as she presents her deal on Britain’s EU withdrawal to the Commons.

The Prime Minister cleared the first hurdle when Cabinet ministers finally approved the draft terms of her agreement with Brussels at a stormy five-hour meeting on Wednesday.

But she now faces a battle to get it through Parliament as pro-Leave Conservative MPs – as well as some Remainers – lined up to condemn the plan, accusing her of breaking promises and leaving the UK at the mercy of Brussels.

Following the release of the 585-page agreement document, Jacob Rees-Mogg – the leader of the pro-Brexit European Research Group – wrote to all Tory MPs urging them to vote against it.

Rumours continued to swirl at Westminster that the tally of Conservative MPs who have submitted letters of no confidence in Mrs May is about to reach the 48 threshold needed to trigger a vote on her position.

Mr Rees-Mogg said that he was not among those MPs who had written to the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, but suggested he could be “very close” to doing so.

“Certainly this has dented my confidence,” he told ITV’s Peston programme. “Politics depends on trust and this document is shattering to trust.”

While the Cabinet agreed to collectively support the agreement, there was speculation that some ministers were so unhappy that they could still quit in protest.

Reports suggested as many as a third of the 28 ministers attending the meeting in No 10 voiced doubts about the deal.

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey was said to be particularly upset amid reports she was shouted down after she tried to press for the agreement to be put to a vote.

Mrs May described the debate around the Cabinet table as “long, detailed and impassioned”, in a clear indication her proposals had come under intense challenge from ministers.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street minutes after the meeting concluded, she acknowledged she faced “difficult days ahead” as she attempts to win round critical MPs.

“I firmly believe, with my head and my heart, that this is a decision which is in the best interests of the United Kingdom,” she said.

At the same time she warned Brexiteers that if they failed to back her plan they risked ending up with “no Brexit at all”.

Chief Whip Julian Smith has said he is confident the Government will get the support of Parliament for the deal.

But with the DUP – whose 10 MPs prop up Mrs May in the Commons – voicing their unhappiness at the agreement, and the prospect of a significant Tory backbench revolt it is hard to see how ministers can make the numbers add up.

Jeremy Corbyn again made clear that Labour was unlikely to come to the Government’s rescue.

“I don’t believe that the deal that I’ve heard of so far is in the national interest. It doesn’t meet the interests of all parts of Britain, it doesn’t give us a security of our trading relationship with Europe in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker issued a statement that “decisive progress” had been made, clearing the way for a special summit for leaders of the remaining 27 EU states to give their stamp of approval, probably on November 25.

Senior UK Government officials said the final text of the withdrawal agreement featured important gains for the UK on the so-called backstop arrangements to be implemented if no trade deal can be reached.

The outline political declaration – which will be subject to further negotiation over the coming weeks – expresses an ambition to achieve zero tariffs and no quotas in EU-UK trade, something the officials said no other major economy had achieved.

The facilitated customs arrangements and “common rulebook” proposed in Mrs May’s Chequers plan are replaced by the concept of a “sliding scale” of commitments and market access, which means the UK would not be tied to an off-the-shelf deal of the kind previously offered to countries such as Canada.

Under backstop arrangements designed to keep the Irish border open, if no trade deal is agreed by the end of the transition period in December 2020, a temporary “EU-UK single customs territory” would be established.

This could be terminated only by mutual consent of Brussels and London but each side would be legally bound to make “best endeavours” to bring it to an end by sealing a permanent deal on their future relations.

There will be a provision to allow the two sides to extend the transition to a fixed date rather than activate the backstop.

A five-person arbitration panel, with two representatives of each side and one independent member, will be set up to rule on disputes, with the chair chosen by drawing lots if members cannot agree. </s> Theresa May is braced for a furious backlash from Tory Brexiteers as she presents her deal on Britain’s EU withdrawal to the Commons.

The Prime Minister cleared the first hurdle when Cabinet ministers finally approved the draft terms of her agreement with Brussels at a stormy five-hour meeting on Wednesday.

But she now faces a battle to get it through Parliament as pro-Leave Conservative MPs – as well as some Remainers – lined up to condemn the plan, accusing her of breaking promises and leaving the UK at the mercy of Brussels.

Following the release of the 585-page agreement document, Jacob Rees-Mogg – the leader of the pro-Brexit European Research Group – wrote to all Tory MPs urging them to vote against it.

Rumours continued to swirl at Westminster that the tally of Conservative MPs who have submitted letters of no confidence in Mrs May is about to reach the 48 threshold needed to trigger a vote on her position.

Mr Rees-Mogg said that he was not among those MPs who had written to the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, but suggested he could be ‘very close’ to doing so.

‘Certainly this has dented my confidence,’ he told ITV’s Peston programme. ‘Politics depends on trust and this document is shattering to trust.’

While the Cabinet agreed to collectively support the agreement, there was speculation that some ministers were so unhappy that they could still quit in protest.

Reports suggested as many as a third of the 28 ministers attending the meeting in No 10 voiced doubts about the deal.

Nick Timothy, Theresa May’s former chief of staff, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that Parliament will ‘surely’ reject the proposal.

‘The proposal presented to Cabinet is a capitulation,’ he wrote.

‘Worse, it is a capitulation not only to Brussels but to the fears of the British negotiators themselves, who have shown by their actions that they never believed Brexit could be a success.

‘This includes, I say with the heaviest of hearts, the Prime Minister.’

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey was said to be particularly upset amid reports she was shouted down after she tried to press for the agreement to be put to a vote.

Mrs May described the debate around the Cabinet table as ‘long, detailed and impassioned’, in a clear indication her proposals had come under intense challenge from ministers.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street minutes after the meeting concluded, she acknowledged she faced ‘difficult days ahead’ as she attempts to win round critical MPs.

‘I firmly believe, with my head and my heart, that this is a decision which is in the best interests of the United Kingdom,’ she said.

At the same time she warned Brexiteers that if they failed to back her plan they risked ending up with ‘no Brexit at all’.

Chief Whip Julian Smith has said he is confident the Government will get the support of Parliament for the deal.

But with the DUP – whose 10 MPs prop up Mrs May in the Commons – voicing their unhappiness at the agreement, and the prospect of a significant Tory backbench revolt it is hard to see how ministers can make the numbers add up.

Jeremy Corbyn again made clear that Labour was unlikely to come to the Government’s rescue.

‘I don’t believe that the deal that I’ve heard of so far is in the national interest. It doesn’t meet the interests of all parts of Britain, it doesn’t give us a security of our trading relationship with Europe in the future,’ he said.

Meanwhile European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker issued a statement that ‘decisive progress’ had been made, clearing the way for a special summit for leaders of the remaining 27 EU states to give their stamp of approval, probably on November 25.

Senior UK Government officials said the final text of the withdrawal agreement featured important gains for the UK on the so-called backstop arrangements to be implemented if no trade deal can be reached.

The outline political declaration – which will be subject to further negotiation over the coming weeks – expresses an ambition to achieve zero tariffs and no quotas in EU-UK trade, something the officials said no other major economy had achieved.

The facilitated customs arrangements and ‘common rulebook’ proposed in Mrs May’s Chequers plan are replaced by the concept of a ‘sliding scale’ of commitments and market access, which means the UK would not be tied to an off-the-shelf deal of the kind previously offered to countries such as Canada.

Under backstop arrangements designed to keep the Irish border open, if no trade deal is agreed by the end of the transition period in December 2020, a temporary ‘EU-UK single customs territory’ would be established.

This could be terminated only by mutual consent of Brussels and London but each side would be legally bound to make ‘best endeavours’ to bring it to an end by sealing a permanent deal on their future relations.

There will be a provision to allow the two sides to extend the transition to a fixed date rather than activate the backstop.

A five-person arbitration panel, with two representatives of each side and one independent member, will be set up to rule on disputes, with the chair chosen by drawing lots if members cannot agree. </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 </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday to remain in office — but saw more of her power ebb away as she battled to keep Brexit on track after lawmakers demolished her European Union divorce deal.

May won a narrow victory, 325 votes to 306 votes, on an opposition motion seeking to topple her government and trigger a general election.

Now it’s back to Brexit, where May is caught between the rock of her own negotiating red lines and the hard place of a Parliament that wants to force a radical change of course.

After winning the vote, May said she would hold talks “in a constructive spirit” with leaders of opposition parties and other lawmakers, starting immediately, in a bid to find a way forward for Britain’s EU exit.

Legislators ripped up May’s Brexit blueprint Tuesday by rejecting the divorce agreement she has negotiated with the EU over the last two years. That it would lose was widely expected, but the scale of the rout — 432 votes to 202, the biggest defeat government defeat in British parliamentary history — was devastating for May’s leadership and her Brexit deal.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn responded with the no-confidence motion and urged the government to “do the right thing and resign.”

May, who leads a fractious government, a divided Parliament and a gridlocked Brexit process, said she was staying put. May said an election “would deepen division when we need unity, it would bring chaos when we need certainty, and it would bring delay when we need to move forward.”

The government survived Wednesday’s vote with support from May’s Conservative Party and its Northern Irish ally, the Democratic Unionist Party. Many pro-Brexit Conservatives who voted against May’s deal backed her in the no-confidence vote to avoid an election that could bring a left-wing Labour government to power.

Had the government lost, Britain would have faced a snap election within weeks, just before the country is due to leave the European Union on March 29.

Political analyst Anand Menon, from the research group U.K. in a Changing Europe, said May has a remarkable ability to soldier on.

“The thing about Theresa May is that nothing seems to faze her,” he said. “She just keeps on going.”

May’s determination — or, as her foes see it, her inflexibility — might not be an asset in a situation calling for a change of course. The prime minister has until Monday to come up with a new Brexit plan.

May promised to speak to lawmakers from across the political spectrum. But she also said any new Brexit plan must “deliver on the referendum result,” which May has long interpreted to mean ending the free movement of workers to Britain from the EU and leaving the EU’s single market and customs union. </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May has postponed an expected "meaningful vote" on her widely maligned Brexit plan this week, saying MPs may have to wait until March 12 to have their say on the divorce deal.

Speaking to reporters before travelling to a European Union-Arab League summit in Egypt, May said on Sunday her Brexit negotiation team would continue talks with EU officials in a bid to secure a deal palatable to British legislators, ruling out a vote this week.

"We won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week but we will ensure that that happens by the 12th of March," May said.

"It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on the 29th of March and that is what we are working to do," she added.

May had been expected to put her proposed divorce deal to a vote in the UK's lower chamber House of Commons on Wednesday.

The latest delay comes after her Brexit plan was resoundingly defeated last month by 230 MPs - the biggest parliamentary defeat in British history - and underlines the difficulty May is having in attempting to get the agreement ratified.

Reacting to May's announcement, the main opposition Labour Party accused the British leader of "recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal".

"This decision to further delay the meaningful vote is the height of irresponsibility... Parliament cannot stand by and allow this happen," Labour's Brexit Secretary Kier Starmer said in a tweet.

Starmer's comments were followed by a pledge from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to work with other parties' MPs to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

" Theresa May is putting the country at risk by recklessly running down the clock to force MPs to choose between her bad deal and a disastrous no deal," Corbyn said in a tweet.

"Labour will work with MPs across the Commons to prevent no deal, break the deadlock and build support for our alternative plan," he added.

On Sunday, May also rejected calls from members of her own cabinet to extend Article 50 - the exit clause in the EU's constitution - should she lose the rescheduled vote on her withdrawal plan in the House of Commons next month, saying it would not solve the ongoing impasse shrouding British politics.

Three of the May's cabinet ministers suggested on Saturday they would break with the British prime minister and back amendments to delay Brexit unless a deal is agreed in the next week.

The three - Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Business Secretary Greg Clark and Justice Secretary David Gauke - said they want a deal to be reached in the coming days but are worried about opposition from other MPs.

"Too many of our parliamentary colleagues appear complacent about the consequences of leaving the EU without a deal," the trio wrote in an article published in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper on Saturday.

With just 33 days until Britain is due to leave the 28-member EU, May is making last-ditch efforts to win concessions from the bloc on the divorce package, brokered after months of arduous negotiations between London and Brussels.

The EU has ruled out reopening the withdrawal agreement, though both sides are looking at a possible legal addendum to reassure MPs who worry the controversial Irish border backstop clause could keep Britain trapped in the EU's orbit for years to come.

The mechanism would guarantee no re-establishment of a hard border on the island of Ireland in the event that post-Brexit trade negotiations between the UK and the EU prove unsuccessful.

May's environment minister, Michael Gove, said on Sunday that "progress" was being made in attempts to secure changes to the backstop clause.

"It could be a time limit, I think it could be a unilateral exit mechanism. I think these things are possible and I think it could be another legally powerful protocol or addition to the treaty, which makes it clear that we would not be bound in the backstop indefinitely against our will," said Gove.

The ongoing unrest over Britain's bid to depart the EU marks the country's deepest political crisis in decades after nearly 52 percent of Britons - more than 17 million people - voted to leave the EU during the UK's June 2016 referendum.

Both of the country's major parties fractured last week, with parliamentarians quitting May's ruling Conservative Party and the main opposition Labour Party suggesting both were failed remnants of a political system in meltdown. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Theresa May: 'We now need to get on with the job of delivering Brexit'

Prime Minister Theresa May has won a vote of confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party by 200 to 117.

After securing 63% of the total vote, she is now immune from a leadership challenge for a year.

Speaking in Downing Street, she vowed to deliver the Brexit "people voted for" but said she had listened to the concerns of MPs who voted against her.

Her supporters urged the party to move on but critics said losing the support of a third of MPs was "devastating".

The prime minister won the confidence vote with a majority of 83, with 63% of Conservative MPs backing her and 37% voting against her.

The secret ballot was triggered by 48 of her MPs angry at her Brexit policy, which they say betrays the 2016 referendum result.

The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said the level of opposition was "not at all comfortable" for the prime minister and a "real blow" to her authority.

Speaking shortly after the result was announced, Mrs May said she would be fighting for changes to her Brexit deal at an EU summit on Thursday.

"I am pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot," she said.

"Whilst I am grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me and I have listened to what they said."

She spoke of a "renewed mission - delivering the Brexit people voted for, bringing the country back together and building a country that really works for everyone".

How have Conservative MPs reacted?

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who led calls for the confidence vote, said losing the support of a third of her MPs was a "terrible result for the prime minister" and called on her to resign.

Brexit-backing Tory MP Mark Francois told the BBC it was "devastating" that more than half of backbenchers not serving in the government had abandoned the prime minister.

"In the cold light of day when people reflect on that number - 117 - it's a massive number, far more than anyone was predicting. I think that will be very sobering for the prime minister. I think she needs to think very carefully about what she does now."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, announces May survive confidence vote

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling conceded there were "lessons" for the prime minister and the party in the result but former cabinet minister Damian Green said it was a "decisive" victory for the prime minister, which should allow her to "move on and get on with the job in hand".

Conservative grandee Nicholas Soames urged Brexiteers to "throw their weight" behind the PM as she sought to address the "grave concerns" many MPs had about aspects of the EU deal.

The result was greeted by cheers and applause from Tory MPs as it was announced by backbench Tory chairman Sir Graham Brady.

The prime minister still faces a battle to get the Brexit deal she agreed with the EU through the UK Parliament, with all opposition parties and, clearly, dozens of her own MPs against it.

What are the opposition saying?

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the vote had "changed nothing".

"Theresa May has lost her majority in Parliament, her government is in chaos and she's unable to deliver a Brexit deal that works for the country."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Theresa May: How the PM fought through Brexit battles

Labour has said it will table a no-confidence motion that all MPs - not just Conservatives - will be able to vote in when they felt they had a chance of winning it, and forcing a general election.

The SNP's Stephen Gethins urged Labour to "step up to the plate" and call a vote of no confidence in Mrs May, accusing the government of "playing games with people's lives".

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said his party, which helps keep Mrs May in power, was still concerned about the Irish backstop plan, which most MPs were against.

"I don't think this vote really changes anything very much in terms of the arithmetic," he told BBC News.

But he said the DUP would not support a no-confidence motion in Parliament at this stage.

PM pledges not to fight next election

Mrs May earlier vowed to fight on to deliver her Brexit deal, which she argues is the only option for leaving the EU in an orderly way on 29 March.

But in a last-minute pitch to her MPs before the vote she promised to stand down as leader before the next scheduled election in 2022.

While "in her heart" she wanted to fight another election as leader, she realised her party did not want her to. However, she resisted calls to name a firm date for her departure.

If she had lost the confidence vote Mrs May would have been forced to stand down as Conservative Party leader, and then as prime minister.

But she is now expected to travel to a summit in Brussels on Thursday to continue trying to persuade EU leaders to change the deal - they have previously said it cannot be renegotiated.

The outcome of the vote was welcomed by Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who said avoiding a no-deal exit from the EU was their "shared goal".
British Prime Minister Theresa May wins approval of her Brexit plan from her cabinet, although many Conservative and opposition MPs voice strong disapproval.