Prime Minister Theresa May lost her third Brexit vote today in the House of Commons 344 to 286, a margin of 58 votes. More than a rejection of May’s Brexit deal with the European Union [EU], the British Parliament has asked May to resign, paving the way for new elections. May hopes that she can cajole more members of Tory, Labour and Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party [DUP] parties, threatening MPs that time is running out on the new April 12 deadline for leaving the EU. May has pleaded with EU officials, especially European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Commission President Donald Tusk, to guarantee the so-called “backstop” or insurance policy on the Northern Ireland border, leaving the border a passport free trading zone, AKA a custom’s union. Juncker and Tusk have offered May no such assurances, prompting the Westminster to reject May’s deal.
May hopes to go back to Brussels begging for the backstop or customs union needed to peal off an additional 59 votes, something so unlikely at this point, that May’s pleading in Brussels embarrasses the U.K. May hopes to push the petal-to-the-metal before the April 12 deadline. As of right now, Parliament looks more to May’s resignation and call for new elections than to commit to a flawed Brexit deal. Voted in June 23, 2016, Brexit passed by 52% to 48%, a small but significant margin nearly three years ago. Recent polls have indicated that if the Brexit vote were held today, the yes votes would flip-the-script, with the no’s well above 52% to stay in the EU. May stubbornly refused to hold a second Brexit referendum, given what’s known today as opposed to June 23, 2016 vote. U.K. citizens now see the economic pitfalls of severing ties with the EU.
Wasting more time over the next two weeks, May won’t find to many more votes in the Tory, Labour or DUP parties. While she’s improved the number of votes for her deal over the last three vote tallies, she won’t find enough votes to pass her Brexit deal. Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn is the only MP telling the truth when he tells May her time as prime minister has expired. Corbyn believes the Brexit madness must stop, calling first for new elections and then a new referendum, ending Brexit once-and-for-all. Calling the outcome to today’s vote “a matter of profound regret,” May admitted “ I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in the House,” meaning that there aren’t enough votes left to pass her Brexit deal. Corbin wants May to resign, despite her insistence on pushing the latest Brexit vote. Going to Brussels for another emergency meeting won’t change to EU’s current Brexit deal.
With the clock ticking, May doesn’t see the handwriting-on-the-walls, that the EU has nothing more to offer the U.K., especially when it comes to a customs union. When the U.K. leaves the EU, it’s clear, at least to Brussels, that there’s no longer a passport free trade zone in Northern Ireland. May’s squeezed as many votes from the Europscepticism of the Tory Party or, for that matter, any more Labour votes. Whether admitted to or not, except by Corbyn, Westminster wants new leadership including an opportunity to stay in the EU. “Clearly, there is more work to do. We are at least going in the right direction,” May said, referring to increasing the number of yes votes for her Brexit deal. But if May’s truthful, she knows a few votes here-or-there won’t change the outcome on Monday or any other days leading up to the new April 12 deadline. May knows she’s reached the House’s limits.
Telling the real story, DUP leader Nigel Dodds told the BBC that he’d rather stay in the EU than take May’s bad Brexit deal. “I would stay in the European Union and remain rather that risk Northern Ireland ‘s position. That’s how strongly I feel about the Union,” Dodds said. Northern Ireland knows that if May crashes out of the EU, there’s zero reason for the EU to create a customs union or passport free trade zone. May knows that the U.K. can’t call all the shots leaving the world’s second larges trade bloc next to the United States. There’s zero incentive for the EU to acquiesce to May’s demands for a custom’s union in Northern Ireland. Whether admitted to or not, there are real consequences to the U.K for leaving the EU, including no longer part of the EU’s passport free Schengen agreement. European Council President Donald Tusk said he will call a meeting April 10.
Tusk wants May to know that the European Council, European Commission and European Parliament remain united in the final agreement given to May. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he’s waiting for the U.K. to “indicate a way forward” by April 12 “for consideration by the European Council.” There’s no indication that any further meetings with Tusk, Juncker or any other EU official will change the EU’s offer to Great Britain. Tusk and Juncker have prepared for a “no deal” Brexit since December 2017. “There has to be an alternative found. And if the Prime Minister can’t accept that then she must go, not an indeterminate date in the future but now,” said Corbyn. Even conservative Tory Brexiteer Steve Baker said it was time for May to quit. Baker voted with 34 other conservatives against May’s Brexit deal, signaling they want her out.
