Latest Brexit vote explained

Gulf News

Theresa May lost the last Brexit vote in dramatic fashion, but what does all this mean? Moving forward, May must overcome a vote of no confidence before any actual Brexit strategy can begin.

Transcript

00:00The vote that Prime Minister Theresa May has spent the last two years negotiating with

00:07the EU was resoundingly defeated last night in a historic loss for the Prime Minister.

00:12Such a heavy loss hasn't been inflicted since 1924. Opposition politicians from the Labour

00:18Party voted against her deal, as did politicians from May's own Conservative Party. The deal

00:25was not on Brexit itself, in fact, but on the manner in which the UK intends to leave

00:30Europe. So that deal that Theresa May has spent two years negotiating was either deemed

00:36not a clean enough break from the EU or too much of a Brexit, depending on the politician's

00:42own personal belief about Brexit. So what happens next? Well, immediately after the

00:47vote last night in Parliament, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a vote of

00:53no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May. That will take place at around 7pm GMT this

00:59evening after six hours of debate in the UK Parliament. Now, Theresa May is expected to

01:05win that no confidence vote after members of her own party, who despite voting against

01:10her deal, said that they will vote for confidence in the leader, Prime Minister Theresa May.

01:15So where does that leave us? Well, after the vote of no confidence in May is likely won,

01:21then we'll go back to the drawing board where opposition party The Labour will go and try

01:26to work with the Conservative Party to come up with a deal that satisfies more people.

01:32The UK is still on course to exit Europe on March 29th, although last night's defeat does

01:38cast some doubt over how realistic a timeline that is. All options are still available.

01:43There could be a second referendum, there could be no deal and the UK could come crashing

01:48out of the EU on March 29th, although politicians from both Brussels and London have expressed

01:54deep concern over that possibility, given the damage it would do to business. Many options

02:00still available in terms of Theresa May's own deal, with certain tweaks that could be

02:04made, although one key issue relating to the Northern Irish border still remains and many,

02:10many politicians within Theresa May's party say that that is a red line and non-negotiable.

02:15Likewise, the EU says that that is equally non-negotiable, so it doesn't seem like a

02:19compromise could be struck there. So again, really the fun begins now after last night's

02:25defeat in the Commons and who knows what might happen next, but we will wait to see as the

02:29debates begin in a couple of hours in the Commons in Westminster and we will wait to

02:34see on the results of tonight's no confidence vote in Prime Minister Theresa May. As always,

02:39you can follow us on gulfnews.com for the latest updates of the Brexit process and we'll

02:44be back later today with a more in-depth podcast on Dirhams and Dollars, looking at

02:48exactly what happened last night and what the ramifications are going forwards. Thanks

02:53very much for watching. I'm Ed Plowes. Cheers.

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