Brexit news - live: Tory MP quits in disgust after Commons votes to reject every single suggested way forward
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Your support makes all the difference.MPs have rejected all alternative Brexit options put forward in indicative votes as one Tory MP quit seconds after results were announced claiming the party “refuses to compromise”.
The Commons turned down options to pursue a Common Market solution, a second referendum and the revocation of Article 50. A Customs Union proposed by Ken Clarke was rejected by just three votes.
Moments after the vote took place, Tory MP Nick Boles resigned the party whip claiming his colleagues “refuse to compromise”. His Common Market 2.0 proposal had been defeated 261 votes to 282, with 228 Conservatives voting against.
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Public splits between rival cabinet ministers had deepened earlier in the day ahead of the key votes.
Tory chief whip Julian Smith said the government should have accepted earlier that it would “inevitably” need to settle on a softer Brexit, but Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said such an outcome would be “incredibly problematic”.
Mr Smith also hit out at his cabinet colleagues, saying they were the “worst example of ill-discipline in cabinet in British political history”.
Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has warned the default legal position is that the UK is now due to leave the European Union without a deal in 11 days’ time.
However, he says MPs can prevent this outcome without the need for both a lengthy delay and British participation in European elections by voting for Theresa May’s deal when it is inevitably brought back for a fourth Commons vote later this week.
More from Nick Boles, he says he will be sitting in Parliament as an "Independent Progressive Conservative" after resigning the Tory whip this evening.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s representative in Brexit negotiations, has warned Britain faces a hard Brexit “abyss” after all four alternatives were rejected by the Commons.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry, whose amendment to revoke Article 50 came bottom of the table, said she would now move away from trying to fix UK issues and focus on Scotland.
Expressing fury with Labour for whipping against her option she said: “I don't know why they whipped against because when I spoke to Keir Starmer he was unable to give any kind of coherent explanation.
“I know many people suspect it's because Labour couldn't bring themselves to vote for a motion in the name of someone from the SNP.
“Labour has put a dreadful, incompetent, hopeless Tory Government in a stronger position.
“From now on my principal focus will be on how best to protect Scotland from this chaos.”
Meanwhile, Independent Group MP Chuka Umunna has said votes tonight showed a confirmatory vote and a customs union are the two most popular solutions in the Commons.
“I think it's quite clear a People's Vote and customs union are the most popular options in the House of Commons and in fact support for a People’s Vote has increased,” he said.
“The logical thing in this circumstance would be to put the prospect of leaving the EU with a customs union to the British people in a People’s Vote with the option to remain.
“At the moment there doesn't seem to be support in the House for a general election because it won't resolve any of the Brexit chaos, it just delays making a decision.”
That's it for The Independent's Brexit coverage on a day where MPs once again failed to find a consensus on a plan to exit the European Union. Thanks for following our live updates and be sure to come back tomorrow, when we'll be following all the action from Westminster and beyond once again.
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