Brexit deal proposed by Theresa May was rejected by British Parliament by a vote of 432 to 202. It means that the Withdrawal Agreement struck between May's government and the EU in November last year has fallen at the first hurdle. It must be ratified by the UK and European parliaments before it can come into force. The vote was originally due to take place in December, but Mrs May delayed it to try and win the support of more MPs.
A political analyst, assistant to the president of the International Eurasia Press Fund Anastasia Lavrina shared her opinion about the current situation around Brexit with Eurasia Diary.
‘’This voting in the British Parliament, undoubtedly, will be memorized in the history. The difference among the numbers is significant and it proved the fact that there is a lack of support for Theresa May in Parliament, where there are still some discussions on the topic of more appropriate negotiations policy with the European Union. There are still some disagreements on which principles to follow, whether to break off all relations with the EU or there’s a need to find a soft approach in order to solve the emerged situation. Current situation demonstrates that the UK is not ready to withdraw from the EU on the following step.
During all BREXIT period, Theresa May could not come to a consensus with her colleagues and convince them in the rightness of negotiation policy. From my point of view, there’s an insignificant opportunity that she can do this now, when there are only 73 days before the appointed date of Britain’s escape from the EU (March 29). However, it doesn’t exclude the possible second vote on BREXIT.
European Union’s leaders forecasted the following outcome, which undoubtedly became one of the main reasons why the agreement on the UK's withdrawal and future relations was agreed for significantly short period of time (within less than an hour’s discussion), while the negotiations were continuing 20 months. On that moment, the President of the European Commission Jean- Claude Juncker called the Brexit withdrawal agreement from November 25, as the "best and only deal possible". And so it was. Now, when the Parliament voted against the proposal, Theresa May should prepare an alternative plan and submit it for consideration, while taking into account the interests of the EU, British Parliament and in particular citizens. ‘’