By Ben Kerrigan-
British prime minister, Theresa May has won a no confidence vote to overthrow her government by a margin of 325 to 306.
Rebel Tory MPs and the DUP voted to keep May in office, despite rejecting her Brexit deal only 24 hours earlier
Ms May promised to commence talks with other party leaders to find a Brexit compromise that MPs will back. Giving her reaction to the result, Mrs May told MPs she would “continue to work to deliver on the solemn promise to the people of this country to deliver on the result of the referendum and leave the European Union”. The prime minister invited leaders of all parties to have individual meetings with her on the way ahead for Brexit, starting from tonight. She called on them to approach the discussions with a “constructive spirit”, adding that “We must find solutions that are negotiable and command sufficient support in this House,” she added.
Her survival of dethronement makes her appear irremovable from office, given the number of attempts made to boot her out. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, who heads the Labour Government, is under pressure from members of his own party to push for a second referendum- an idea that has been strongly resisted from the prime minister and her staunch supporters. Britain also has the alternative of revoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty without the approval of the other 27 member states.The European Court of Justice has ruled that Britain can revoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – the legal mechanism taking the country out of the EU on 29 March – without the approval of the other 27 member states.
Such an outright revocation will be unlikely in the present climate of Parliament in which most minsters are trying to avoid what they perceive will result in the lack of trust on the democracy. The government say it would be a betrayal of the trust of those who voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, but some experts believe it is the only genuine way forward.
European Council President Donald Tusk has hinted that cancelling Brexit would be his preferred option, tweeting, after Mrs May’s deal was defeated by 230 votes: “If a deal is impossible, and no-one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive moving forward is?
The European Union Withdrawal Number 2 Bill, giving the government three weeks to seek a compromise and leave as planned on 29 March has been presented as an approach moving forward. Failing the alternative measures presented, the 36-strong House of Commons Liaison Committee would be tasked with coming up with its own compromise deal.
The committee, comprised of chairmen and women of the Commons select committees and other parliamentary committees, meets periodically to give the prime minister a grilling on issues of the day. It has not previously been pressed into action to come up with policy ideas.
Its members span every shade of opinion on Brexit, from Conservative Remainers such as Sarah Wollaston to veteran Eurosceptics Sir Bill Cash and Bernard Jenkin. There are also Labour and SNP figures, and one Lib Dem.
Whether they could do a better job than the cabinet of agreeing a Brexit deal is an open question.
Speaking before Mrs May’s defeat, Ms Wollaston said she had not been consulted about the idea and warned MPs “cannot take over conducting a complex international negotiation”.