British prime minister Theresa May has lost her bid to get parliamentary support for the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The vote announced in Westminster saw her latest effort defeated by 344 votes to 286 - a majority of 58.
The result means that Ms May has lost a third attempt to pass her deal in the parliament.
Mrs May said she had “profound regret” that the vote was not carried. It is likely now that Britain will seek an extension to the latest Brexit deadline and that it will also have to contest the European elections. The “legal default” Brexit date of April 12 will remain in place until the next step is decided, Mrs May said.
Mrs May said Westminster had reached its limits, after rejecting her deal a third time and after opposing other variations of Brexit earlier this week.
Responding to the vote, British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said a new deal was now needed and Britain's future should be decided through a general election. This was agreed with by other Opposition speakers.
It is now expected that Mrs May will have to appeal to Brussels for a long Brexit extension.
However, it is unclear how EU members will respond to this. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will meet French and German leaders later this week. Furthermore, a emergency EU summit will be held on April 10 after the latest Brexit vote.
