EU chiefs ramp up No Deal preparations after Brexit vote is crushed again by MPs
Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission, said that tonight's vote hugely increases the chances the UK will leave without a deal
EU chiefs have said they will ramp up their No Deal plans tonight after the Brexit deal was crushed again by MPs in the Commons.
Brussels bosses said they had done all they could to try and push the deal through and ruled out any further concessions to the UK over leaving the EU.
Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission, said that tonight's vote hugely increases the chances the UK will leave without a deal and they will continue their emergency plans.
He said in a statement just minutes after Theresa May's agreement was slapped down for the second time: "We regret the outcome of tonight's vote and are disappointed that the UK government has been unable to ensure a majority for the Withdrawal Agreement agreed by both parties in November."
Mr Tusk said "on the EU side we have done all that is possible to reach an agreement... it is difficult to see what more we can do."
A solution can only be found in London, he claimed.
And he hinted the EU will be on hand to extend Article 50 if Mrs May asks for it in the coming days.
He said the bloc would "consider it and decide by unanimity".
But they will expect a clear plan for the extension too, he warned.
It's a far cry from the previous inflammatory comments where Mr Tusk said there was a "special place in hell" for Brexiteers who wanted to quit the bloc without a plan, which sparked uproar last month.
Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker warned MPs earlier today there “wouldn’t be a third” chance to renegotiate the deal.
And Mr Barnier, who was last night in last minute talks with the PM, added: "The EU has done everything it can to help get the Withdrawal Agreement over the line. The impasse can only be solved in the . Our “no-deal” preparations are now more important than ever before.";
However, a commission spokesperson said tonight that it had also increased the risk that Brexit might not happen at all - hinting that Britain could hold a second referendum or stop Brexit.
The comments come despite the fact that MPs only rejected the deal because they thought the EU were being too harsh and there was a chance we'd stay trapped in the bloc forever.
EU diplomats openly questioned how the PM can carry on and said the huge scale of the defeat squashed any possibility of further compromises.
One told The Sun: “We’ve gone as far as we can go with this. Without a stable majority for whatever deal there’s little point negotiating anymore.”
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The House of Commons tonight voted against the PM's Brexit deal for the second time - by a margin of 391 votes to 242.
Now 993 days after the referendum, and with just 17 days before Brexit, Brits are still in the dark about when or if we will ever leave the EU.
Furious MPs blasted the uncertainty - saying the "wretched soap opera of Brexit continues" as the country heads "back to square one".
The Sun Says
THERESA May’s new Brexit defeat represents a catastrophic failure by a Parliament of pygmies.
They handed the British people the right to determine if we left the EU, solemnly pledged to see the result through and made it law. They have twice now rejected the only available deal and calamitously let the nation down.
Many have sold their election promises and constituents down the river.
Three years since the referendum and just 16 days before our scheduled exit, no one even knows if Brexit will happen.
This great country is in the grip of chaos which is terrifying families and crippling businesses. Our politicians should hang their heads in shame.
Mrs May’s deal isn’t great. But it would have got Brexit done, as a weary population desperately wants. It would have killed off a hideously divisive new referendum and more paralysing uncertainty.
So many MPs have been inept, dishonest or both. Very few escape blame.
For all her admirable resilience Mrs May has made fundamental errors. Not least on Monday when she secured changes from the EU then oversold them on live TV, only to have her own Attorney General knock them down.
Given his advice was so pivotal, why was he not in the loop throughout?
Or yesterday, so terrified of Cabinet Remainers quitting that she allowed her party a free vote today to rule out No Deal — our final bargaining chip.
Meanwhile Tory Brexiteers who rejected the deal have lost the plot.
We respect them for standing by Brexit, 17.4million voters and democracy. But how can they not grasp that Brexit is in mortal danger? They are vastly outnumbered by Remainers now hell-bent on imposing their will.
Some Remainers colluded with the EU. All have backed Brussels over Britain and now have the gall to lament the chaos they themselves have caused.
Their stinking duplicity is only matched by Labour’s. Corbyn’s mob take the public for fools, posing as Leavers one minute, Remainers the next. Their sole concern is their party.
How they whooped like excited kids as Mrs May’s defeat became clear. To them Britain’s grave plight is just a tribal game.
Then there’s the EU and its three-year campaign to humiliate and punish Britain, hoping to overturn our Leave vote. It has soured relations for a generation.
No wonder Tories do not trust Brussels not to trap us in the backstop.
No one can predict what happens now.
If the ERG get a third chance to back the deal they must take it. By then Brexit’s impending death should be very clear. But no MP should be in any doubt how voters see them.
Their stock was already low. Their conduct at this critical moment in our history has shamed Parliament.
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