British PM May survives party confidence vote but 117 dissent

[webfact]

British PM May survives party confidence vote but 117 dissent

By Kylie MacLellan, Elizabeth Piper and William James

 

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives back at 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain December 12, 2018. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May survived a confidence vote from her Conservative party on Wednesday, but more than a third of her lawmakers said she was no longer the right leader to implement Britain's exit from the European Union.

 

Britain's March 29 exit has been plunged into crisis by parliamentary opposition to the divorce deal she struck with the EU last month, which has opened up possibilities including a delay to Brexit or even another referendum on membership.

 

May on Monday cancelled a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal, designed to maintain close future ties with the bloc and agreed after two years of negotiations, after it became clear she would lose it badly.

 

Eurosceptic critics of the deal within her own party triggered a no-confidence vote in her leadership hours after she returned from talks with European leaders aimed at winning additional assurances about her deal.

 

After two hours of voting in Committee Room 14 in the House of Commons, Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, said 200 Conservative lawmakers had voted in support of May as leader, and 117 against, indicating her party was bitterly divided over the direction of Brexit.

 

Supporters said the result showed the party should now get behind her. But the hardline Brexit supporters who triggered the vote because they saw her deal as a betrayal of the 2016 referendum said she should now quit.

 

"It is a terrible result for the prime minister," Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of a hard Brexit faction in the party, told BBC Television. "The prime minister must realise that, under all constitutional norms, she ought to go and see the queen urgently and resign."

 

But May loyalist Chris Grayling, her transport minister, said the party had endorsed her "comfortably".

 

ENDANGERING BREXIT?

May, who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, had warned opponents of her withdrawal deal - struck after two years of negotiations - that if they toppled her, Brexit would be delayed or stopped.

 

Shortly before the vote, May sought to win over wavering lawmakers by promising to step down before the 2022 election.

 

Brexit is Britain's most significant political and economic decision since World War Two. Pro-Europeans fear the departure will weaken the West as it grapples with the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.

 

The outcome will shape Britain's $2.8 trillion economy, have far-reaching consequences for the unity of the kingdom and determine whether London keeps its place as one of the top two global financial centres.

 

Supporters of Brexit admit there may be some short-term pain for Britain’s $2.9 trillion economy, but say it will prosper in the long term when cut free from the EU, which they cast as a failing German-dominated experiment in European integration.

 

May, 62, won the top job in the turmoil that followed the 2016 EU referendum, where Britons decided by 52 percent to 48 to leave the EU. She promised to implement Brexit while keeping close ties to the bloc, to heal a divided nation.

 

Sterling jumped as high as $1.2672 <GBP=D3> as the result came in but then fell to $1.2605, still up 1 percent on the day, after it emerged that the number of lawmakers who had voted against May was higher than many in the markets had expected.

 

(Writing by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark John and Kevin Liffey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-13

 

[Samui Bodoh]

'Brexit' is the most consequential public policy decision of the last 50+ years in the UK, and there is little consensus.

 

Parliament is divided.

The parties are divided.

The countries of the UK itself are divided.

Business is divided.

Civil Society is divided.

Labour unions are divided.

All the UK is divided.

 

Deciding and implementing such a sweeping policy change under these conditions is pure madness. The common sense thing to do under these circumstances is to put it aside for a lengthy period, but I think that option is also not possible anymore. And, I suspect that things will only get worse; no matter what occurs, bitter divisions will haunt the UK for generations.

 

In my lifetime, I have never seen a country do so much damage to itself, and that includes Trump's America.

 

Hey UK, get your act together or face (literally) decades of dispute, disagreement and discord.

 

 

 

[bkkcanuck8]

In Canada that result would likely mean the leader of the party would resign.  The precedent was set by "Joe Clark" of "Progressive Conservative" party -- who received 70% and then after receiving such a poor review -- and called a full leadership contest (which he participated and lost). 

 

Simply put, receiving 63% confidence in you from your own party where it is just a stay or go question -- is actually quite a horrible result. 

[tebee]

Thatcher resigned when she only got 204 votes in her favour.

 

TM claims 200 as a great victory for her.

 

Brexit has lowered the standards in public life yet again. 

[melvinmelvin]

what now

 

will the deal be put to parliament for voting?

 

[bkkcanuck8]

5 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

what now

 

will the deal be put to parliament for voting?

 

If that is the deal she is wedded to -- then yes it should -- and it should be a confidence motion.

[melvinmelvin]

if Labour put forward a non-conf motion in parliament, 

would she survive that?

 

guess her support from own party would increase if it was in parliament

 

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

1 hour ago, tebee said:

Thatcher resigned when she only got 204 votes in her favour.

 

TM claims 200 as a great victory for her.

 

Brexit has lowered the standards in public life yet again. 

think TM did pretty well, alas,

200 out 317 is pretty good when you have to drag the Brexit burden along

 

don't think you can reasonably expect any better figures in such a large party

with Brexit in your luggage

 

 

[SheungWan]

2 hours ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

In Canada that result would likely mean the leader of the party would resign.  The precedent was set by "Joe Clark" of "Progressive Conservative" party -- who received 70% and then after receiving such a poor review -- and called a full leadership contest (which he participated and lost). 

Simply put, receiving 63% confidence in you from your own party where it is just a stay or go question -- is actually quite a horrible result. 

Got any other exciting precedents from Canada?

[SheungWan]

1 hour ago, melvinmelvin said:

if Labour put forward a non-conf motion in parliament, 

would she survive that?

guess her support from own party would increase if it was in parliament

We look forward to the Hard Brexiteers marching into the same lobby as Jeremy Corbyn all waving their principles in the air.

[SheungWan]

1 hour ago, melvinmelvin said:

what now

will the deal be put to parliament for voting?

 

1 hour ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

If that is the deal she is wedded to -- then yes it should -- and it should be a confidence motion.

It should be this, it should be that....

[connda]

 

[Basil B]

3 hours ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

In Canada that result would likely mean the leader of the party would resign.  The precedent was set by "Joe Clark" of "Progressive Conservative" party -- who received 70% and then after receiving such a poor review -- and called a full leadership contest (which he participated and lost). 

 

Simply put, receiving 63% confidence in you from your own party where it is just a stay or go question -- is actually quite a horrible result. 

The party is so divided if there were leadership contest I doubt any other contender could get 50%

 

2 hours ago, tebee said:

Thatcher resigned when she only got 204 votes in her favour.

 

TM claims 200 as a great victory for her.

 

Brexit has lowered the standards in public life yet again. 

Yes, 204 out of 356 that is 57% 

Just more Brexiteer bull s#!t try to muddy the water with misleading facts.

[alanrchase]

Apparently now 63% isn't good enough for Brexiteers. Let's have another vote to get her out? Keep on voting till you get the result you want? I thought Brexiteers were adamantly against that sort of behaviour? 

[stephenterry]

My crystal ball says that May will aim to get the wording clarified (added flexibility on UK options) on the Irish backstop with the EU, and then give that a chance to cool down over Xmas before holding the vote on her deal early January, when MP's are recovering from a festivities overload, and in no mood to contest another debacle. I'm pretty sure that parliament will approve her deal by a narrow margin, as it's in no-ones interest (apart from the hard Brexiteers) to have a no-deal scenario.

 

It's going to be knife-edged, though, IMO.

 

 

 

 

[vogie]

2 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

Apparently now 63% isn't good enough for Brexiteers. Let's have another vote to get her out? Keep on voting till you get the result you want? I thought Brexiteers were adamantly against that sort of behaviour? 

 

[RickBradford]

The UK's doing well - the economy went up by $100 billion in a single paragraph!

 

The outcome will shape Britain's $2.8 trillion economy, have far-reaching consequences for the unity of the kingdom and determine whether London keeps its place as one of the top two global financial centres.

 

Supporters of Brexit admit there may be some short-term pain for Britain’s $2.9 trillion economy, but say it will prosper in the long term when cut free from the EU, which they cast as a failing German-dominated experiment in European integration.

 

Honestly, if some evil-doer had asked the British authorities to deliberately make the biggest possible pig's ear out of the Brexit negotiations, they would have come up with something very similar to what we see today.

[mommysboy]

3 hours ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

If that is the deal she is wedded to -- then yes it should -- and it should be a confidence motion.

The Daily Mail says to let her get on with it. Well, she can start by putting her deal before Parliament- as she should have done on Tuesday.  I mean what else?

[mommysboy]

1 hour ago, SheungWan said:

 

It should be this, it should be that....

What do you think then? Park the bus until 30th March?

[stephenterry]

2 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

The Daily Mail says to let her get on with it. Well, she can start by putting her deal before Parliament- as she should have done on Tuesday.  I mean what else?

Because it would be voted against unless some clarification on the Irish backstop is agreed with the EU. IMO, it could merely be that the UK could leave by giving adequate notice and assurances to the EU that seamless trade between UK and Ireland could be achieved by businesses using similar checking techniques as Norway. 

 

it would be a hassle, but in two years time, a solution ought to be found.

[Basil B]

2 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

The Daily Mail says to let her get on with it. Well, she can start by putting her deal before Parliament- as she should have done on Tuesday.  I mean what else?

She knows it aint going to get past Parliament as it stands...

She is in a last attempt to get more concessions before putting it to Parliament.

 

Pity the UK has had to female Prim Ministers, both won a vote of confidence yet mortally wounded.

 

I am sure TM has the balls to see this out, either to a brexit deal or when she runs out of road...

[Basil B]

On way to get this mess sorted...

 

Cancel Parliament Christmas recess until it is.

 

(Well the creator of our modern parliament did cancel Christmas in the 1640's)

[evadgib]

Question time will be interesting tonight given David Davis is on the panel if I heard correctly two weeks ago.

[melvinmelvin]

37 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

Apparently now 63% isn't good enough for Brexiteers. Let's have another vote to get her out? Keep on voting till you get the result you want? I thought Brexiteers were adamantly against that sort of behaviour? 

there is still the possibility of a non conf being moved in parliament

 

[sandyf]

19 minutes ago, Basil B said:

She knows it aint going to get past Parliament as it stands...

She is in a last attempt to get more concessions before putting it to Parliament.

 

Pity the UK has had to female Prim Ministers, both won a vote of confidence yet mortally wounded.

 

I am sure TM has the balls to see this out, either to a brexit deal or when she runs out of road...

She already knows that nothing can change.

 

"Theresa May has said her Brexit deal is “the only deal available” and that the controversial Northern Ireland backstop is “necessary” after being rebuffed in a meeting with Angela Merkel and other EU leaders on Tuesday."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-deal-latest-theresa-may-meeting-angela-merkel-eu-a8678561.html

 

In yesterdays PMQs she just point blank refused to give another date for the vote. Playing for time in the hope she can force parliament into submission.

[vogie]

5 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

there is still the possibility of a non conf being moved in parliament

 

The Lib/Dems have said they would back Corbyn should he propose a no confidence vote, it would appear that at this time Corbyn is not confident he would win it. My take anyway.

[sammieuk1]

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

'Brexit' is the most consequential public policy decision of the last 50+ years in the UK, and there is little consensus.

 

Parliament is divided.

The parties are divided.

The countries of the UK itself are divided.

Business is divided.

Civil Society is divided.

Labour unions are divided.

All the UK is divided.

 

Deciding and implementing such a sweeping policy change under these conditions is pure madness. The common sense thing to do under these circumstances is to put it aside for a lengthy period, but I think that option is also not possible anymore. And, I suspect that things will only get worse; no matter what occurs, bitter divisions will haunt the UK for generations.

 

In my lifetime, I have never seen a country do so much damage to itself, and that includes Trump's America.

 

Hey UK, get your act together or face (literally) decades of dispute, disagreement and discord.

 

 

 

You missed out divide and conquer something Tory millionaires have been telling the poor for 50 years of self interest indulgence, and your right its a shambles of biblical proportions ???? 

[Chomper Higgot]

4 hours ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

In Canada that result would likely mean the leader of the party would resign.  The precedent was set by "Joe Clark" of "Progressive Conservative" party -- who received 70% and then after receiving such a poor review -- and called a full leadership contest (which he participated and lost). 

 

Simply put, receiving 63% confidence in you from your own party where it is just a stay or go question -- is actually quite a horrible result. 

The whole argument is over a 48/52% split.

 

[RickBradford]

2 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

divide and concur

Interesting strategy ....

[Chomper Higgot]

8 minutes ago, vogie said:

The Lib/Dems have said they would back Corbyn should he propose a no confidence vote, it would appear that at this time Corbyn is not confident he would win it. My take anyway.

If that helps you get over the fact ‘Hard Brexit’ was just taken off the table, well go with it.