MPs reject no-deal in second Commons vote
The government suffered two significant defeats on Brexit on Wednesday, after MPs firmly rejected a no-deal Brexit in their Commons vote on Wednesday, and backing an amendment to a separate government motion to rule out no-deal altogether.
In the main order of the day, a motion was tabled by the government which gave MPs the option to reject no-deal. However, the motion, table by the prime minister, was carefully worded to include the phrase: “leaving without a deal remains the default in UK and EU law unless this house and the EU ratify an agreement”.
An amendment moved by Labour’s Yvette Cooper then proposed that this phrase be removed from the motion – a change which MPs voted in favour of, defying the PM’s Brexit stance. At this point, a panicked government whipped its MPs in order to vote against the government’s own motion – however MPs still voted in favour with a majority of 43, handing the government its second defeat of the day.
Today, MPs will vote on a government motion which sets Wednesday as the deadline for passing a deal in the Commons. If no deal is reached, the motion will read, a lengthy extension to article 50 will be required, May told MPs on Wednesday.
‘Back me or lose Brexit’ – May’s final warning
In the aftermath of the government’s defeat on Wednesday, Theresa May offered MPs an ultimatum, saying that they must approve her Brexit deal or face a lengthy extension to article 50.
After MPs firmly rejected a no-deal Brexit in a Commons vote, the prime minister was defiant, telling the Commons that she would put forward a motion on Thursday which would “set out the fundamental choice facing this house”.
If MPs agreed a deal, she said, the government would move to request a “short, technical extension” to article 50 from the EU, in a hint that the prime minister could bring her deal back for another meaningful vote next week.
May warned that without an agreed deal there would be a “much longer extension” to article 50, which would meant that the UK was required to take part in European parliament elections.
What the Papers Say
The Daily Mail: ‘Chaos Reigns’
The Guardian: ‘Mays final warning to Tory rebels: back me or lose Brexit’
The Daily Telegraph:
Philip Hammond’s spring statement
Much overlooked in the chaos of last night’s Brexit vote, the chancellor’s spring statement set out some changes in spending, including a plan to build 30,000 affordable homes.
Philip Hammond’s plan set out a new £3bn scheme which would fund the building of new affordable homes in an effort to reach the government’s own target of 300,000 new homes a year.
“The government is determined to fix the broken housing market,” said Hammond on Wednesday. “Building more homes in the right places is critical to unlocking productivity growth and makes housing more affordable.”
Housing charity Shelter said that whilst it was good news that the government was increasing spending on housing, there was more needed to solve Britain’s shortage.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The government’s decision to renew the affordable housing guarantee scheme is a welcome announcement. This initiative will support the building of more desperately needed social and affordable homes.
“While this is good news, it has to be noted that we can’t deliver social housing on the scale we need on borrowing alone – 3.1m social homes are needed in the next 20 years to tackle the housing crisis at its root and lift thousands of families out of homelessness. We need much more grant funding for social housing in this year’s spending review to get a grip on our ever-growing housing emergency.”
