EU dismay at May's humiliating defeat as Tory row descends into open warfare
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has been at loggerheads with her ministers as several openly contradicted each other over the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.
After MPs refused to support the prime minister’s plan in her latest Commons defeat, EU ministers said it made the current situation even more difficult.
Andrea Leadsom, the commons leader, insisted the option of leaving without a deal remained on the table, but foreign office minister Alastair Burt insisted this was not possible.
A dozen or more ministers could quit if Ms May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period beyond 29 March and veers towards a no-deal scenario, former attorney general Dominic Grieve said.
Margot James became the latest minister to rule out remaining in the government if that situation occurred.
The digital minister told Channel 4 News: “I could not be part of a government that allowed this country to leave the European Union without a deal.” Downing Street insisted Ms May would continue with her negotiating strategy, with ministers dismissing yesterday’s vote as no more than a “hiccup”.
Here is how we covered the day’s events:
Some of the Brexiteers in Theresa May’s government are willing to accept a five-year limit on the backstop, Bloomberg is reporting.
Donald Trump has predicted trade between the US and UK will increase "very substantially" after Britain's departure from the European Union.
The American president, speaking at the White House, said the two countries were agreeing to "go forward" to preserve their trade agreement.
Donald Trump said the relationship with the UK was "very good":
We're agreeing to go forward and preserve our trade agreement.
You know all of the situation with respect to Brexit and the complexity and the problems, but we have a very good trading relationship with the UK and that's just been strengthened further.
So with the UK we're continuing our trade and we're going to actually be increasing it very substantially as time goes by.
We expect that the UK will be very, very substantially increased as it relates to trade with the United States. The relationship there also is very good."
The Independent's Political Correspondent Ashley Cowburn has written an analysis piece on how the EU has reacted to Theresa May's latest defeat in the Commons:
Here are some of the Brexit quotes of the day.
Tory Remainer Anna Soubry:
If she carries on like this, then we all know what is going to happen. Our party will become yet again unelectable and we will fall into the wilderness."
Andrea Leadsom, Commons leader:
Yesterday was more of a hiccup than the disaster that is being reported"
Labour MP Chris Leslie on the party leadership's Brexit strategy:
We are being played for fools by the leadership of the Labour Party. The idea that the Labour Party is not together and arguing against this tragedy, against this disaster, is, for me, entirely heartbreaking."
Tory MP and former attorney general Dominic Grieve on the threat of possible Cabinet resignations:
Unless we as a Parliament and as the House of Commons start to work together to take the necessary steps to prevent no deal happening, no deal could just occur.
It could all be so chaotic, it might just happen by accident. My view is that if they feel she is not taking those steps, I think they are going to have to resign"
Labour MP Chuka Umunna takes a swipe at Mr Corbyn over his handling of Brexit:
When I joined the Labour Party, I intended to be a member on my deathbed. Ultimately whether we keep the party together is a matter for the leadership"
Hannah Essex of the British Chambers of Commerce:
As we approach March 29, so many questions remain unanswered and, with the unwanted possibility of no deal still looming, businesses are preparing for the possibility of increased volatility.
At a time when all of the cogs of government seem to be jammed by Brexit, issues crucial to the UK's competitiveness and productivity have gone ignored"
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