Michel Barnier has said it’s too early to assess the fall out of the UK parliament’s “crystal clear majority against” the government’s final Brexit deal. Speaking to European lawmakers the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said he refused to speculate on the next steps forward following the overwhelming defeat for prime minister Theresa May on Tuesday.
Mr Barnier conceded “the risk of a no deal has never seemed so high” during the session in Strasbourg.
House of Commons leader and cabinet member, the Conservative Andrea Leadsom, insisted there were no plans to delay the UK’s planned withdrawal from the EU on March 29.
Immediately after the devastating defeat for Mrs May, which saw her proposed plan rejected by 432 votes to 202, Labour’s opposition leader called a no confidence motion in the government. Mrs Leadsom, speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, accused Mr Corbyn of failing to offer any alternatives despite various opportunities and seeking to “disrupt the nation.”
Mrs May will now reach out to senior parliamentarians to try and find a compromise that would allow a deal to pass through parliament. Mrs Leadsom refused to confirm or deny whether the prime minister will talk to opposition party leaders.
Speaking earlier in the morning, Labour’s shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said Mrs May’s cabinet had not spoken to Mr Corbyn yet.
The government is expected to win the non-confidence motion on Wednesday with support coming from the Democratic Unionist Party and hard-core Conservative Brexiteers – despite many of them rejecting the proposed deal. The DUP’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds told the BBC Mrs May could rescue her Brexit plan, but accused the prime minister of failing to listen to those in her party and Northern Ireland.