UK Prime Minister Theresa May had delayed the vote on her Brexit deal that was due to take place on Tuesday. It had been widely expected that Mrs May would have been heavily defeated in the vote, with almost all opposition parties as well as MPs from her own party expressing concerns, in particular over the Irish backstop issue.
The Prime Minister’s decision to delay the vote was leaked to the media on Monday afternoon, hours before she officially announced it in the House of Commons.
The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow said that the Government should allow MPs to vote on whether Tuesday’s vote should be delayed and accused the Government of being “discourteous”. However, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister has confirmed that no such vote will take place, and also said that there was “strong cabinet backing” for the vote being delayed.
Opposition leaders have slammed the decision by the Prime Minister to delay the vote, with both the Liberal Democrats and the SNP saying they would support a motion of no confidence in the government if launched by the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn is facing calls to launch a motion of no confidence in the Government, and dozens of MPs also have written to him on Monday afternoon.
Following today’s farcical events by the Government, I have written with dozens of colleagues to ask Jeremy Corbyn to press a vote of no confidence this week and then go immediately for a @peoplesvote_uk pic.twitter.com/JmBcLRbXDk
— Ian Murray (@IanMurrayMP) 10 December 2018
The Labour leader said the Government had “lost control” and was in a state of “complete disarray”.
There is yet to be an announcement on a new timeline for the Brexit deal vote, but the Prime Minister said the government was still committed to exiting the European Union on 29 March 2019.
It is understood the Prime Minister will return to Brussels in order to gather reassurances for the House, though it looks unlikely that large changes will be made to the deal.
The Prime Minister tried to challenge MPs, asking whether they wanted to deliver Brexit – the SNP shouted NO! in response
Clear and powerful response to Theresa May from SNP MPs.
Theresa May: “Does this house want to deliver Brexit?”
SNP MPs [shout]: “NO!” pic.twitter.com/lR7BVAG82o— Grant Costello (@GrantDCostello) 10 December 2018
The delay to the meaningful vote will likely mean yet more uncertainty for the UK, as nobody knows what may happen next. 
