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British Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered a major embarrassment. In the much talked about Brexit vote, Britain’s Parliament delivered a crushing defeat to her deal with a 391-242 verdict , ignoring May’s entreaties to back the agreement and end the political chaos and economic uncertainty that Brexit has unleashed.
According to news report by AP, the verdict effectively pushes the Brexit process into chaos just 17 days before the U.K. is due to leave the bloc. The due date is March 29.
It was a narrower outcome than the 230-vote margin of defeat for the agreement in January, before May secured changes from the bloc — but not by much.
With EU leaders warning there would be no more changes or negotiations, and with less than three weeks to go until the U.K. is due to leave, British lawmakers now face a stark choice between leaving the EU without an agreement to smooth the way, or delaying the country’s withdrawal past the scheduled March 29 departure date.
May — her voice ragged after days of frantic shuttle diplomacy to secure last-minute changes to the deal — had earlier told the House of Commons, “this is the moment and this is the time — time for us to come together, back this motion and get the deal done.”
“If this deal is not passed, then Brexit could be lost,” May said.
