Speaking after lawmakers backed a move to reopen negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland backstop, Prime Minister Theresa May said that it was now "clear that there is a route that can secure a substantial and sustainable majority in this House for leaving the EU with a deal."

May said she would now seek to deal with concerns -- primarily from the rightwing of her own Conservative party -- over the backstop, an insurance policy in the withdrawal deal to avoid a hard border between Ireland (which is in the EU) and Northern Ireland after Brexit.

"There is limited appetite for such a change in the EU and negotiating it will not be easy," May said, triggering a round of jeers from the House of Commons. "But in contrast to a fortnight ago, this House has made clear what it needs to approve a Withdrawal Agreement."

Reiterating her stance on no-deal, May added that simply opposing an exit from the EU without a deal is not enough to stop it, but underlined that the government would redouble its efforts to achieve a deal Parliament could support.

After weeks of refusing to hold talks with the Prime Minister, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said that his Labour party was now prepared to meet May to outline the kind of agreement that it wants with the European Union.

Scottish National Party MP Ian Blackford, who earlier proposed a "stop the clock" amendment on Brexit that was soundly defeated, shouted repeatedly that the Brady vote "effectively ripped apart the Good Friday Agreement."

The Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998, helped end years of deadly sectarian violence and paved the way for the removal of border posts on the frontier between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Nigel Dodds, the Deputy Leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, retorted that the vote to renegotiate the deal and the backstop did not "drive a coach and horses" through the historic peace agreement, adding that it is "utterly reckless to talk in those terms."</s>British Prime Minister Theresa May was on a collision course with the European Union on Wednesday after lawmakers demanded she renegotiate a Brexit divorce deal that the other members of the bloc said they would not reopen.

Less than two months before the United Kingdom is due by law to leave the EU, investors and allies are trying to gauge where the Brexit crisis will ultimately end up with a disorderly Brexit, a delay to Brexit, or no Brexit at all.

Two weeks after voting down May's Brexit deal by the biggest margin in modern British history, Parliament demanded she return to Brussels to replace the so-called Irish backstop, an insurance policy that aims to prevent the reintroduction of a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

"There is limited appetite for such a change in the EU and negotiating it will not be easy," May told lawmakers who voted 317 votes to 301 to support the plan, which had the backing of influential Conservative lawmaker Graham Brady.

"I agree that we should not leave without a deal. However, simply opposing no deal is not enough to stop it," said May, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the chaos following the 2016 referendum.

May said she would seek "legally binding changes" to the divorce deal which she clinched in November with the EU after two years of tortuous negotiations.

In essence, May will try to clinch a last-minute deal by using the implicit threat of a no-deal Brexit from the other 27 members of the EU whose economy is, combined, about six times the size of the United Kingdom's.

The response from European capitals was blunt.

France, the EU's second most powerful member, said there could be no renegotiation and demanded a "credible" British proposal. Germany has so far not given a public comment.

European Council President Donald Tusk said the divorce deal was not up for renegotiation.

Many company chiefs are aghast at London's handling of Brexit, which has triggered the deepest political crisis in half a century, and say it has already damaged Britain's reputation as Europe's pre-eminent destination for foreign investment.

British lawmakers rejected two amendments that set out a clear path for Parliament to prevent a no-deal exit if May cannot get a deal passed next month.

However, they did later approve a proposal calling on the government to stop a potentially disorderly no-deal exit, sending a signal that a majority oppose such a departure.

"Parliament at large signalled that it opposes a 'no deal' Brexit, but it is not ready to delay Brexit to rule out 'no deal' entirely," Goldman Sachs said.

"The Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party, by contrast, signaled that it opposes the prime minister's Brexit deal, and it is ready to risk 'no deal' to renegotiate the terms on offer."

Goldman raised its probability of a no-deal Brexit to 15 per cent from 10 per cent, kept its probability of a delayed Brexit at 50 percent and revised down its probability of no Brexit to 35 percent from 40 percent.

Carolyn Fairbairn, the head of the CBI business lobby, said she did not think any company would have taken reassurance from the events in parliament.

"Renegotiation is a throw-of-the-dice, it must succeed or fail fast. Rejecting no deal is welcome but doesn't get a deal," Fairbairn said.
• ​All roads lead to Ireland: The real front line in the Brexit war</s>LONDON: British MPs on Tuesday (Jan 29) voted on a series of amendments seeking to show what they want as Brexit approaches on Mar 29, with Britain currently on course to crash out of the EU without a withdrawal deal.

Earlier this month, they rejected the agreement Prime Minister Theresa May struck with the European Union late last year.

Now they have sent her back to Brussels to renegotiate -- and said they do not want Britain to leave the EU with no deal.

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

MPs backed an amendment by 317 votes to 301 that offers support for May's deal if she can remove the "backstop" arrangement intended to keep open Britain's border with Ireland.

The proposal from senior Conservative MP Graham Brady calls instead for "alternative arrangements" to avoid border checks.

Speaking before the vote, May said the amendment would give her a mandate to return to Brussels and negotiate a "significant and legally binding change" to the Brexit deal.

The vote united her Conservative party and their Northern Irish allies.

MPs have called previously for a unilateral exit clause from the backstop, or a time limit - both ideas rejected by the EU.

May emphasised she remained committed to avoiding any new border checks in Ireland.

MPs voted by 318 to 310 to support an amendment by Conservative MP Caroline Spelman rejecting the possibility that Britain leaves the European Union with no deal.

It is not legally binding but has political weight.

Speaking before the votes, May told MPs: "I, too, want to avoid leaving with no deal."

But she said the amendment "is missing the other half of the equation, for unless we are to end up with no Brexit at all, the only way to avoid no deal is to agree a deal".

MPs voted by 321 to 298 to reject a cross-party amendment which sought to delay Brexit to stop Britain leaving with no deal on Mar 29.

Presented by Labour MP Yvette Cooper, it would have cleared the Commons timetable on Feb 5 for a debate on a law to delay, if the government failed to agree a Brexit deal by Feb 26.

MPs also rejected by 327 votes to 296 an amendment by opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanding parliamentary time to vote on how "no deal" might be avoided.

He had offered two options: renegotiate a new UK-EU customs union and a "strong relationship" with the EU's single market, or hold a second referendum.

Another amendment from former Conservative minister Dominic Grieve, which would have allowed MPs to express their will in a series of votes right up to Brexit day, was also defeated by 321 votes to 301.

IS THAT IT?

The government has promised another vote on its Brexit deal as soon as possible.

May said on Tuesday that if she had no new deal to put to MPs before Feb 13, then they would be able to vote on the next steps on Feb 14.

Elsewhere, MPs could still seek to influence events by proposing amendments to a series of government bills that must pass parliament before Brexit day.

A growing number of ministers have also warned they will not accept a "no deal" Brexit, raising the possibility they could resign to try to stop such an outcome.</s>LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday won a few weeks to salvage a Brexit deal but headed toward a clash with the European Union by promising to overhaul the divorce agreement she spent a year and a half negotiating with the bloc.

Trying to break the U.K.’s Brexit deadlock, May got Parliament’s backing for a bid to rework an Irish border guarantee in the withdrawal deal – a provision May and the EU both approved, and which the bloc insists cannot be changed.

“It is now clear that there is a route that can secure a substantial and sustainable majority in this House for leaving the EU with a deal,” she said, promising to “obtain legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement” from the EU.

The EU immediately ruled that out, insisting in a statement that the current deal with the U.K. remained the “best and only way” to achieve an orderly Brexit. French President Emmanuel Macron said the agreement “is the best accord possible. It is not re-negotiable.” Guy Verhofstadt, the top Brexit official at the European Parliament, said there was “no majority to reopen or dilute” the deal.

It was the latest disorienting chapter in a Brexit process that has grown increasingly surreal since Parliament rejected May’s divorce deal two weeks ago, leaving Britain lurching toward a cliff-edge no-deal” departure on March 29.

A series of Commons votes Tuesday on next steps submitted by both pro-Brexit and pro-EU legislators ended up sending starkly mixed signals, as lawmakers backed a call to renegotiate the deal, and also approved a rival motion ruling out a no-deal exit.

May had urged lawmakers to “send an emphatic message” to the EU, but their response is likely to leave the bloc even more confused about British aims.

May believes her agreement can still win Parliament’s backing if it is changed to alleviate concerns about the Irish border measure, known as the backstop. The backstop would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU in order to remove the need for checks along the border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Britain leaves the bloc.

The border is crucial to the divorce deal because it will be the only land frontier between the U.K. and the EU after Brexit, and because the free flow of people and goods underpins both the local economy and Northern Ireland’s peace process.

Opposition to the backstop by pro-Brexit lawmakers – who fear it will trap Britain in regulatory lockstep with the EU – helped sink May’s deal on Jan. 15, when Parliament rejected it in a 432 to 202 vote.

On Tuesday, Parliament backed, by 317 votes to 301 votes, a call for the border measure to be replaced by unspecified “alternative arrangements.”

Leading Brexiteers praised the result. Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Parliament had sent a “clear, unambiguous” message that the backstop had to be removed.

“I hope that our friends in Brussels will listen and that they will make that change,” he said.</s>The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Wednesday was on a collision course with the European Union.

This followed the demand by lawmakers that she renegotiates a Brexit divorce deal that the other members of the EU bloc said they would not reopen.

Less than two months before the UK is due by law to leave the EU, investors and allies are trying to gauge whether the Brexit crisis will ultimately end up with a disorderly Brexit, a delay to Brexit, or no Brexit at all.

Two weeks after voting down Mrs May’s Brexit deal by the biggest margin in modern British history, parliament demanded she returned to Brussels to replace the so-called Irish backstop.

“There is limited appetite for such a change in the EU and negotiating it will not be easy.

“I agree that we should not leave without a deal,” Mr May told lawmakers who voted 317 votes to 301 to support the plan, which had the backing of influential Conservative lawmaker, Graham Brady.

“However, simply opposing no deal is not enough to stop it,” Mrs May said. She was an initial opponent of Brexit and won the top job in the chaos following the 2016 referendum.

Mrs May said she would seek “legally binding changes” to the divorce deal which she clinched in November with the EU after two years of tortuous negotiations.

In essence, she will try to clinch a last-minute deal by using the implicit threat of a no-deal Brexit from the other 27 members of the EU whose economy is, combined, about six times the size of the UK’s.

The response from European capitals was blunt.

France, the EU’s second most powerful member, said there could be no renegotiation and demanded a “credible” British proposal.

Germany has so far not given a public comment.

European Council President, Donald Tusk, said the divorce deal was not up for renegotiation.

Sterling, which was traded at 1.3190 dollars before lawmakers voted, fell over a cent and was trading at 1.3080 dollars. (Reuters/NAN)</s>Leaders across the European Union offered a united chorus of "No" on Wednesday to Britain's belated bid to negotiate changes to the Brexit divorce deal so Prime Minister Theresa May can win the backing of her Parliament. In London, May acknowledged that her government hasn't decided exactly how it will try to change the deal to address British lawmakers' concerns about the Irish border.

All this while Britain is headed for the EU exit in less than two months, on March 29.

"We are, quite simply, running out of road," said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, with a note of exasperation echoed across the continent.

Buoyed by winning a vote in Parliament, May has vowed to secure "legally binding changes" to the withdrawal agreement. British lawmakers voted Tuesday to send May back to Brussels seeking to replace an Irish border provision in the deal with "alternative arrangements," ignoring EU warnings that the agreement cannot be altered.

"We've been down that track before and I don't believe that such alternative arrangements exist," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.

Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters at the European Parliament that "the EU institutions remain united, and we stand by the agreement that we have negotiated with the U.K." German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said "opening up the withdrawal agreement is not on the agenda."

Britain and the EU struck a divorce deal in November after a year and a half of tense negotiations. But the agreement has run aground in Britain's Parliament, which overwhelmingly rejected it on Jan. 15.

Much of the opposition centers on a border measure known as the "backstop," a safeguard mechanism would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks along the border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.

The border area was a flashpoint during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland that cost 3,700 lives. The free flow of people and goods across the near-invisible border underpins both the local economy and Northern Ireland's peace process.

Many pro-Brexit British lawmakers fear the backstop will trap Britain in regulatory lockstep with the EU, and say they won't vote for May's deal unless it is removed.

May was due to speak to Varadkar and European Council President Donald Tusk on Wednesday, and was meeting with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find elusive cross-party unity on Brexit.

May conceded that her government hadn't settled on a way to replace the backstop, telling lawmakers that "there are a number of proposals for how that could be done." May said measures under consideration included a unilateral exit mechanism from the backstop for Britain, a time limit to the backstop and "mutual recognition and trusted trader schemes."

The EU says the backstop is an insurance policy and as such can't have a time limit or a get-out clause.

The EU parliament point-man on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, underlined that nobody in Europe wants to use the backstop, but that it's "needed to be 100 percent sure that there is no border between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic."

Verhofstadt said the only way for May to win concessions would be to back away from her long-held stance that Britain would not remain part of the EU's customs union after Brexit.

"If the future relationship is, for example, a customs union that makes it completely different," Verhofstadt told reporters.

He insisted that Britain needed to quickly move from its internal bickering and disputes in the House of Commons.

"What needs to stop is this: an amendment with 10 votes for, then an amendment with 10 votes against, an amendment that barely pulls through, one that fails," he said of Tuesday's session, which saw seven Brexit amendments, of which two were passed.

"That is no way to build a future relationship with the EU," Verhofstadt said.</s>PARLIAMENT has asked prime minister Theresa May to take a no-deal Brexit off the table - and seek alternative arrangements for the Northern Ireland backstop.

MPs voted on seven amendments in the House of Commons this evening – with the notable outcomes being to not accept a no-deal scenario, and to avoid creating a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland with an amendment to the backstop agreement – though none of the amendments are legally binding.

The Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s suggested amendments to Theresa May’s next move on Brexit was defeated 327-296.

His amendment was to enter a permanent customs union with Brussels and a version of the EU’s single market – as well as having a public vote on a deal.

SNP leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, proposed an extension to Article 50 and for a no-deal Brexit to be ruled out, which was voted down 327-39.

Tory MP Dominic Grieve’s amendment would force the government to give MPs six days to discuss alternatives on the Brexit plan – this was defeated 321-301.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper suggested a new law postponing Brexit until December 31, if MPs did not approve Theresa May’s deal. This vote was also lost, by 321-298.

This was followed by Labour MP Rachel Reeves’ amendment to also postpone the Brexit deadline, which was defeated, and a cross-party amendment from Dame Caroline Spelman and Jack Dromey to prevent a no-deal Brexit – which was approved 318-210.

Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady’s amendment called for the Northern Ireland backstop to be replaced with ‘alternative arrangements’, thus preventing a hard border – which was also approved by 317-301.

Here’s what MPs in the Portsmouth region had to say on the votes:

‘Tonight I hope a little bit of faith was won back by the Commons.

‘MPs voted to defeat amendments which would have derailed Brexit and the will of the people.

‘A way forward to secure a deal has been supported by a majority of the house.

‘The prime minister will go back to Brussels to secure changes to the withdrawal agreement as required.

‘I am pleased that we are a step closer to leaving the EU in an orderly way and I think that the vast majority of my constituents, whether they voted leave or remain, would be pleased to hear that.’

‘Theresa May is continuing to push the narrative of her deal or no-deal, attempting to force the public into accepting a substandard and uncertain deal as the lesser of two evils – both of which would make our city and our country poorer.

‘Preparations for no-deal are costing £170,000 per hour and would cost Portsmouth 1,300 jobs.

‘Parliament has spoken with one voice to rule it out – the Government must now do the same. The people of Portsmouth and this nation deserve to be presented with better options than what this government is currently offering.

‘So much has changed in the last two years and the stalemate we are currently experiencing can only be broken by the people telling us which direction they want to go in.

‘That’s why I voted tonight for the amendment which provides an opportunity for democracy to take place and for the people to have a final say.’

‘It’s a big step in the right direction.

‘Up until now we’ve only known what parliament wouldn’t support – now we have given the prime minister a clear mandate from the house of Commons to renegotiate arrangements in place of the backstop and bring back a deal on which the UK will leave the EU on March 29.

‘The no-deal vote is not legally binding, but a clear indication that parliament needs to get behind a deal that we can all agree on.’

‘I was pleased to support the government today in votes on Theresa May’s plan for renegotiation of the Brexit deal.

‘The prime minister now has a clear indication of what the majority of MPs will support – legally-binding changes to the Northern Ireland backstop being most significant.

‘I am optimistic that such changes will now be secured with the EU so that the UK will leave the EU on March 29 this year.

‘The no-deal rejection is a non-binding and ineffective vote. Legally speaking, in the absence of a deal, we will leave without one.

‘Tonight’s votes show that overturning this is very difficult.’</s>(Reuters) - The risk that Britain will crash out of the EU without an agreement is low but rising, while the likelihood that it will delay Brexit is growing, banking analysts said on Wednesday after mixed messages from votes in parliament.

With two months left until Britain is due by law to leave the EU, lawmakers voted on Tuesday to demand Prime Minister Theresa May seek changes to Britain’s exit treaty, which the EU says cannot be renegotiated.

They also voted to express opposition to a no-deal exit from the EU but rejected a proposal that would delay Brexit if necessary to avert crashing out without a deal.

Some analysts saw these events as raising risks of a no-deal Brexit, though they still assigned a low probability to this outcome. However, belief has grown that the government will have to extend the March 29 deadline for its EU exit.

Accordingly, sterling firmed on Wednesday after falling around 0.7 percent on Tuesday.

For an interactive version of the below chart: tmsnrt.rs/2See2B9.

Below are the views from a selection of investment banks and asset managers:

Raised its estimated probability of no-deal Brexit to 15 percent from 10 percent after the parliament vote. The bank also cut the probability of Brexit not happening at all to 35 percent from 40 percent while leaving chances of a delayed Brexit at 50 percent.

Raised its estimate of the probability of a no-deal Brexit to 15 percent from a 5 percent and recommended taking profit on a long sterling position. However the bank also raised to 50 percent its prediction of the chance of a last-minute ratification of May’s deal, versus its prior view of 30 percent.

It cut the probability of a second referendum to 5 percent from 15 percent.

Kept unchanged its view of a 20 percent chance of a no-deal Brexit and a 35 percent chance of a second Brexit referendum. Advised staying long sterling, noting that Tuesday’s vote had merely “kicked the can down the road”. It sees a delay to the March 29 deadline as “inevitable”.

Maintains its view of a 20 percent chance of no-deal Brexit but sees rising chances that Brexit will be delayed.

Reckons risk of a hard Brexit “by accident” has risen to 30 percent from 20 percent. The bank also now sees a 20 percent chance of no Brexit, down from around 25 percent earlier. It said that in any outcome involving a deal, an extension of the deadline could be necessary.

The only bank surveyed by Reuters on Wednesday to actually cut the probability of no-deal Brexit. It now sees it at 15 percent, down from 20 percent previously, noting lawmakers’ clear appetite for a deal.

Assigns 10-15 percent chance of a no-deal Brexit and has not changed that estimate. Its view is that Tuesday’s parliament vote was a setback rather than the endgame, with lawmakers likely to agree a deal. The bank reckons however that the deadline for leaving will have to be extended.

Says that following Tuesday’s vote, likelihood of no-deal Brexit would be 25-30 percent compared to 20 percent earlier. Sees a delay to the deadline as “a certainty”.

Sees no-deal risk at 10 percent at most and has not changed that probability, predicting that lawmakers will opt to approve a deal rather than risk the damage caused by a disorderly Brexit.</s>The British Parliament was set to vote on competing Brexit plans Tuesday, with Prime Minister Theresa May desperately seeking a mandate from lawmakers to help secure concessions from the European Union.

But amid political gridlock in London and with Brexit day just two months away, the EU shows few, if any, signs of renegotiating the divorce deal it struck with May late last year.

British legislators were delivering verdicts on proposals that have been submitted by both pro-Brexit and pro-EU legislators since Parliament rejected May’s divorce deal with the bloc two weeks ago, leaving Britain lurching toward a cliff-edge “no-deal” departure on March 29.

May insists her agreement can still win Parliament’s backing, if it is tweaked to alleviate concerns about a contentious Irish border provision. EU leaders are adamant that the measure can’t be renegotiated, whatever British lawmakers decide.

The border measure, known as the backstop, would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU in order to remove the need for checks along the frontier between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Britain leaves the bloc.

Opposition to the backstop by pro-Brexit lawmakers who fear it will trap Britain in regulatory lockstep with the EU helped sink May’s deal on Jan. 15, when Parliament rejected it by 432 votes to 202.

May has backed a proposal calling for the backstop to be replaced by “alternative arrangements,” and has called on all lawmakers from her Conservative Party to support it.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said the amendment offered the best chance for Britain to avoid leaving the EU without a deal on future relations.

“I think we should send the prime minister back to Brussels with a strong mandate to be able to say ‘If you compromise with us on this one issue, on the backstop, we would be able to a get an agreement,’” he told the BBC.

But it’s far from certain the amendment can win support from a majority in the House of Commons. And the EU insists the legally binding withdrawal agreement cannot be renegotiated.

Ireland’s European Affairs Minister, Helen McEntee, said British politicians needed to show “a bit of realism.”

“There can be no change to the backstop. It was negotiated over 18 months with the U.K. and by the U.K.,” she said.

Though Parliament is overwhelmingly opposed to May’s deal, lawmakers are divided over what to do instead whether to brace for a “no-deal” Brexit or to try and rule it out.

Much of the business world says a no-deal Brexit would cause economic chaos by eliminating existing EU trade agreements and imposing tariffs, customs checks and other barriers between the U.K. and its main export market.

To complicate matters further, the split between Brexiteers and pro-Europeans runs through both main parties, Conservatives and Labour.

Conservatives from rival wings of the party proposed a compromise Tuesday that calls for Britain to seek a “new backstop” and an extended transition period of almost three years after March 29 so that Britain and the EU can work out a permanent new trade deal.

But Sarah Wollaston, a pro-EU Conservative, dismissed the plan as “fantasy Brexit.”

She tweeted: “There won’t be any renegotiation of the Withdrawal Agreement & all the nonsense is a smokescreen whilst the clock runs down to No Deal. Parliament should vote to reject that catastrophe.”

The backstop proposal is one of more than a dozen amendments proposed by lawmakers that aim to alter the course of Britain’s departure.

Others, backed by the main opposition Labour Party, seek to rule out a no-deal Brexit so Britain can’t tumble out of the bloc on March 29 without an agreement in place to cushion the shock.

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow will announce before Tuesday’s debate begins which amendments have been selected for votes.

EU leaders have repeatedly urged Britain to clarify what kind of Brexit it wants and are watching to see which proposals if any get the backing of Parliament.

“This is not a Brussels day, this is a London day,” said European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas. “We have the vote tonight and then we will take it from there.”</s>LONDON (Reuters) - Lawmakers (MPs) will on Tuesday debate and vote on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s response to the overwhelming rejection of her Brexit plan earlier this month.

The vote is not a rerun of the Jan. 15 vote on whether to approve the exit deal she had negotiated with the European Union, which she lost by 432 to 202.

Instead, Tuesday is a chance to discover what sort of changes to her strategy would be required to win the support of parliament, so May can try to renegotiate the deal in Brussels and then ask MPs to approve it.

May has said she wants to secure concessions relating to the border with Northern Ireland in order to win the support of pro-Brexit MPs in her own party and the small Northern Irish party which props up her government, who voted against her deal.

Some MPs want to shift control of the process away from government and give parliament the chance to define Brexit. If successful, this could have a profound effect, giving MPs who want to block, delay or renegotiate Brexit a possible legal route to do so.

Other MPs have proposed alternatives to May’s deal in order to gauge support for them and persuade the prime minister to change course by seeking closer EU ties or holding a second referendum on leaving.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

MPs are officially discussing a bland statement saying they have debated May’s next steps. But, using a parliamentary device known as an amendment, some hope to turn it into something that will persuade or force May into taking a different path.

So far 14 amendments have been put forward. The Speaker, John Bercow, will announce at around 1300 GMT on Tuesday which of these have been selected for debate and a vote.

Voting on these amendments will take place one by one from 1900 GMT. Each vote takes around 15 minutes and the result is read out in parliament.

Once voting on all amendments has taken place, a vote is held to give final approval to the wording of the statement. This final statement does not automatically dictate government policy.

This seeks to shift control of Brexit from May’s government to parliament by demanding that on Feb. 5, the rule that government business takes precedence in parliament is overturned.

Providing it has the support of 10 MPs from at least four political parties, it makes time for a piece of legislation giving May until Feb. 26 to get a deal approved by parliament.

If not, parliament would be given a vote on asking the EU for a postponement of the Article 50 deadline to prevent Britain leaving without a deal on March 29. It proposes a nine-month extension to Dec. 31.

Put forward by Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper, this plan has a strong chance of succeeding as the opposition Labour Party has said it is likely to back it and it is supported by several of May’s Conservatives.

Supported by Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs, it calls for the backstop to be replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border in Ireland and says parliament would support May’s Brexit deal if this change were made.

This amendment is potentially useful to the government if passed because it would show the EU there is popular support in parliament for her attempt to renegotiate.

This has been proposed by Conservative lawmaker Dominic Grieve and has a chance of succeeding as it is supported by MPs from several parties.

It demands that, one day a week in February and March, the rule that government business takes precedence in parliament is overturned, giving MPs the opportunity to propose their own debates on Brexit. Any proposals approved by parliament on those days would not be binding on the government but would be politically difficult to ignore.

Proposed by opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, it calls for parliament to consider alternative options to prevent Britain leaving without a deal, including seeking a permanent customs union with the EU and holding a second referendum.

This is unlikely to be approved as pro-EU MPs in May’s Conservative Party have indicated they will not rebel against their leader by supporting it.

Several Labour MPs and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats have proposed changes to this amendment so that it would call only for parliament to vote on holding a second referendum and that remaining in the EU should be an option in that referendum.

OTHER AMENDMENTS THAT COULD BE VOTED UPON:

Proposed by Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and his MPs, it calls on the government to rule out a no-deal exit and prepare for a second referendum in which the option to remain in the EU would be on the ballot paper.

Proposed by Liberal Democrat lawmaker Tom Brake, it demands that a committee of no more than 17 MPs from across political parties be created and given control of the parliamentary Brexit process.

Proposed by Conservative lawmaker Andrew Murrison and supported by many Conservatives, it calls for Britain’s exit deal with Brussels to be changed to add an expiry date to the Northern Irish backstop of Dec. 31, 2021.

This has been put forward by Labour lawmaker Hilary Benn, who chairs parliament’s Brexit select committee. It calls on the government to hold indicative votes on the following options:

1) Holding another vote in parliament on May’s deal

2) Leaving with no deal on March 29

3) Calling on the government to renegotiate May’s deal

Put forward by a group of Labour MPs, this calls on the government to request an extension to the Article 50 deadline so that a ‘Citizen’s Assembly’ of 250 people can be created to consider the way forward and make recommendations to parliament within 10 weeks of being set up.

Put forward by Conservative lawmaker Caroline Spelman and supported by MPs from most political parties, it seeks to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

Proposed by MPs from Labour, May’s Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, this calls on the government to request an extension to the Article 50 deadline if a deal has not been approved by Feb. 26.

This amendment, put forward by Conservative lawmaker John Baron, calls on parliament to reject any Brexit deal which includes a Northern Ireland backstop.

Also proposed by Baron, it states that parliament will not approve a Brexit deal which includes a Northern Ireland backstop lasting any longer than six months.

Also put forward by Baron, it calls for parliament to reject any Brexit deal that does not give Britain a unilateral right to terminate the Northern Ireland backstop.
Votes in parliament call for a no-deal outcome to be avoided, but do not support any delay in the Brexit timetable, and ask for the proposed customs arrangements in Ireland to be renegotiated, which the EU rejects.