MPs Reject Labour Attempt To Block No-Deal Brexit

12 June 2019, 16:58 | Updated: 12 June 2019, 17:16

MP's have rejected a cross-party motion to stop any future Prime Minister pushing through a no-deal Brexit.

The vote would've allowed Labour and Tory rebels to introduce legislation to stop the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

MPs opposed the motion by 309 votes to 298.

What was this vote?

Labour introduced the motion today at 1pm, through an opposition day debate.

It aimed to take control of the agenda of the House of Commons later this month.

Why did they want this?

If the vote was successful, they could have used their control of the Commons agenda on that day to bring forward legislation to prevent any future prime minister forcing through a no-deal Brexit.

This is where the UK would leave the EU without getting a withdrawal agreement.

Why are MPs worried about a no-deal Brexit now?

The reason Labour - and several Conservative rebels - were keen to push this vote through, is because several of the candidates in the Tory leadership contest have signaled that they would not be opposed to a no-deal Brexit if the deadline of the 31 October was reached without any progress on the withdrawal agreement.

Boris Johnson, Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom, have all stated that they would leave the EU without any form of divorce deal, rather than delay Brexit again.

Other Tory candidates have refused to rule out other methods of pushing through a no-deal Brexit, including "proroguing" parliament.