Theresa May has told senior ministers she believes “passionately” that they must take Britain out of the European Union, ahead of what is expected to be a devastating parliamentary rejection of her Brexit plans.

The Withdrawal Agreement secured by the Prime Minister in Brussels in November looks set to go down to one of the heaviest Commons defeats in modern history, after a last-gasp appeal to Tory rebels fell on deaf ears.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES AS MPS PREPARE FOR MEANINGFUL VOTE ON BREXIT DEAL

But Mrs May made clear she would not back away from Brexit in response, telling the Cabinet the Government is “the servant of the people” and must deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum in which voters opted to Leave by 52%-48%.

She told colleagues at the weekly meeting in 10 Downing Street that she will respond “quickly” if her deal is rejected by MPs.

Opening the final day of debate in the Commons, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said that in the event of a Government defeat the agreement would have to return “in much the same form with much the same content”.

Jeremy Corbyn has told Labour MPs he will table a motion of no confidence in the Government “soon” after a defeat, in the hope of triggering a general election.

READ MORE: Why Theresa May could keep putting her Brexit plan before the Commons until she gets the answer she wants

Mrs May will make her final appeal to MPs in a statement closing five days of debate ahead of a series of votes, culminating with MPs’ final judgment on her plan at around 8.30pm.

Speaker John Bercow has allowed debate on an amendment tabled by Mr Corbyn to ditch Mrs May’s plan and “pursue every option” to prevent the UK leaving the EU with no deal.

Also selected for debate were an SNP amendment to reject the Brexit deal and proposals by Tory backbenchers Sir Edward Leigh and John Baron for the UK to take unilateral powers to end controversial “backstop” arrangements.

Labour’s Hilary Benn pulled an amendment which would have blocked both the PM’s deal and a no-deal outcome, saying it was vital to get “the clearest expression of view” from MPs on the Government’s proposals.

Assurances over the backstop received from the EU on Monday appear to have failed to win over significant numbers of the deal’s critics among the Tories and their DUP allies.

Confirming that the 10 DUP MPs will not back the PM’s deal, party leader Arlene Foster told a press conference in London: “We said to the Prime Minister she had to get rid of the backstop and get a Withdrawal Agreement that can be lived with. I don’t think she even asked to get rid of the backstop.”

In a statement, the DUP said its support was conditional on “legally binding changes” to the Withdrawal Agreement to deliver an end date for the backstop arrangements, designed to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

It is thought that Mrs May’s response to a defeat will take the form of an oral statement to the Commons immediately after the division.

Reports suggested a call from Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd at Cabinet for an immediate indicative vote to rule out a no-deal Brexit in the event of defeat met strong resistance from other ministers.

As campaigners from both Remain and Leave camps staged demonstrations outside Parliament, Mrs May was meeting MPs in her Commons office in a last-ditch bid to persuade them to back her deal.

She is understood to be focusing her efforts on Tory backbenchers, rather than trying to reach out for support from other parties.

German foreign minister Heiko Maas said Brexit talks would continue if Mrs May’s deal was rejected by MPs, but there was unlikely to be “substantial” change to the agreement.

Mr Maas said: “If there were still a solution that could be presented under even greater pressure, I would ask myself why it has not been put on the table before in order to ensure that this evening’s vote takes place under better circumstances.

“That is why I believe that the agreement is as it stands and will not be substantially changed, but that, if things go wrong tonight, there will certainly be talks again.”

A no-confidence vote could come as early as Wednesday if Mr Corbyn tables a motion as a point of order in the immediate aftermath of the “meaningful vote”.

But it appears unlikely that Labour can muster enough votes to force a general election, with Tory rebels and the DUP indicating they would continue to back the Government in a confidence vote.

The Prime Minister has insisted she is focused on winning the vote, telling Conservative rebels on Monday evening that they risked handing the keys of No 10 to Mr Corbyn.

However the Daily Telegraph quoted one Cabinet source as saying it would be “hard for her to carry on” if she lost by more than 100 votes.

The deal suffered its first official parliamentary defeat in the House of Lords on Monday night as peers voted by 321 votes to 152 - a majority of 169 - to reject it.

Downing Street has given little indication on how the Prime Minister intends to proceed if she is defeated.

Under the terms of an amendment passed last week, she must table a motion on her Plan B by Monday.

Some reports have suggested she could fly to Brussels - possibly as early as Wednesday - in an attempt to obtain further concessions on the backstop.

But that could prove problematic if she has suffered a massive defeat, with EU leaders reluctant to give ground if they believe it is impossible for her to get the deal through the Commons.

Alternatively, she could opt to bring the deal back to the House for a second - or possibly even a third - time in an attempt to wear down the opposition.

Dominic Raab said Brexiteers like him could back a deal if aspects such as the backstop were dealt with.

The former Brexit secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I made clear when I resigned that there were three aspects that needed to be addressed.

“The backstop is clearly one of them and I want to see very clearly the Withdrawal Agreement linked to a best-in-class free trade agreement.

“If we could do those two things, someone like me would say that, actually, we could vote for it.” l</s>British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday to remain in office — but saw more of her power ebb away as she battled to keep Brexit on track after lawmakers demolished her European Union divorce deal.

May won a narrow victory, 325 votes to 306 votes, on an opposition motion seeking to topple her government and trigger a general election.

Now it’s back to Brexit, where May is caught between the rock of her own negotiating red lines and the hard place of a Parliament that wants to force a radical change of course.

After winning the vote, May said she would hold talks “in a constructive spirit” with leaders of opposition parties and other lawmakers, starting immediately, in a bid to find a way forward for Britain’s EU exit.

Legislators ripped up May’s Brexit blueprint Tuesday by rejecting the divorce agreement she has negotiated with the EU over the last two years. That it would lose was widely expected, but the scale of the rout — 432 votes to 202, the biggest defeat government defeat in British parliamentary history — was devastating for May’s leadership and her Brexit deal.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn responded with the no-confidence motion and urged the government to “do the right thing and resign.”

May, who leads a fractious government, a divided Parliament and a gridlocked Brexit process, said she was staying put. May said an election “would deepen division when we need unity, it would bring chaos when we need certainty, and it would bring delay when we need to move forward.”

The government survived Wednesday’s vote with support from May’s Conservative Party and its Northern Irish ally, the Democratic Unionist Party. Many pro-Brexit Conservatives who voted against May’s deal backed her in the no-confidence vote to avoid an election that could bring a left-wing Labour government to power.

Had the government lost, Britain would have faced a snap election within weeks, just before the country is due to leave the European Union on March 29.

Political analyst Anand Menon, from the research group U.K. in a Changing Europe, said May has a remarkable ability to soldier on.

“The thing about Theresa May is that nothing seems to faze her,” he said. “She just keeps on going.”

May’s determination — or, as her foes see it, her inflexibility — might not be an asset in a situation calling for a change of course. The prime minister has until Monday to come up with a new Brexit plan.

May promised to speak to lawmakers from across the political spectrum. But she also said any new Brexit plan must “deliver on the referendum result,” which May has long interpreted to mean ending the free movement of workers to Britain from the EU and leaving the EU’s single market and customs union.</s>Update - 10.14pm: Theresa May has made a statement in Downing Street following her survival of no confidence vote earlier this evening.

Speaking in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said: “This evening the Government has won the confidence of Parliament.

Prime Minister Theresa May speaking outside 10 Downing Street in London after MPs rejected Labour's motion of no confidence by 325 votes to 306. Photo credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire.

“Overwhelmingly, the British people want us to get on with delivering Brexit.

“I believe it is my duty to deliver on the British people’s instruction to leave the European Union and I intend to do so.”

“In a historic vote in 2016 the country decided to leave the EU. In 2017, 80% of people voted for parties that stood on manifestos promising to respect that result.

“Now, over two and a half years later, it’s time for us to come together, put the national interest first and deliver on the referendum.”

Mrs May attempted to put pressure on Jeremy Corbyn in her statement.

She said she had held “constructive” meetings with Mr Cable, Mr Blackford and Ms Saville-Roberts and would meet MPs including the DUP on Thursday.

She added: “I am disappointed that the leader of the Labour Party has not so far chosen to take part, but our door remains open.”

Update - 9.22pm: Theresa May is to make a statement in Downing Street at 10pm, following her survival of no confidence vote earlier this evening, a Number 10 spokeswoman has confirmed.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman also said she would meet with eurosceptic MPs in her own party, who accepted an invitation, on Thursday.

Theresa May during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons this evening. Picture: UK Parliament/Mark Duffy

Earlier - 'British public must have final say': Mayor of London as Theresa May survives no confidence vote

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he is "deeply disappointed" about the outcome of this evening's no confidence vote in Theresa May.

The Britsh House of Commons narrowly voted against a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May by 325 votes to 306.

Following the result of the vote, Sadiq Khan tweeted:

“Deeply disappointed that Conservative MPs have put political interest above the national interest tonight.

“The Govt needs to withdraw Article 50 immediately. If we cannot have a general election – the British public must have the final say – with the option to stay in the EU.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, raising a point of order after the vote, said: “Last night the House rejected the Government’s deal emphatically.

“Before there can be any positive discussions about the way forward, the Government must remove clearly once and for all the prospect of the catastrophe of a no-deal Brexit from the EU and all the chaos that would come as a result of that.”

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the result of the vote “shows the importance” of his party’s confidence and supply agreement with the Conservatives.

“DUP votes once again make the difference,” he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Dodds said the “result of the motion of no confidence illustrates the importance of the confidence and supply arrangement that is currently in place” between his party and Theresa May’s Conservatives.

He said: “I’m always delighted when our opponents illustrate the strength of that relationship that we have, and what is delivering for Northern Ireland.

A number of Labour MPs then held their hands in the air and rubbed their fingers together, in reference to the extra investment promised to Northern Ireland in exchange for the support of Mr Dodds’ party’s 10 MPs.

He said the agreement was “built on delivering Brexit”, adding that he is looking forward to “working in the coming days to achieve that objective”.

Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas called on Jeremy Corbyn to hold a second referendum after his confidence motion failed.

In a clip posted to Twitter, the Brighton Pavilion MP said: “The leader of the opposition was right to try to bring down this toxic, failing Government. But now MPs have had their say on the Brexit deal, he needs to give the people a say over our future relationship with our nearest neighbours.”

Ms Lucas added that to do otherwise would be a “betrayal” of the “majority of his party’s members” and young supporters who were unable to vote in the referendum two years ago.

Theresa May’s official spokesman has since said that the Westminster leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Plaid Cymru had been invited to meet Mrs May later tonight.

However, a no-deal Brexit will not be taken off the table, despite Mr Corbyn’s insistence it was a prerequisite for talks, he added.

The spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been very clear that the British public voted to leave the European Union.

“We want to leave with a deal but she is determined to deliver on the verdict of the British public and that is to leave the EU on March 29 this year.”

Asked by a reporter if he was “taking no-deal off the table in response to the opposition leader”, he replied: “I am not.”

Earlier: Arlene Foster has said she had a "useful discussion" with Theresa May and confirmed the party will support the Prime Minister in Wednesday's confidence vote.

The DUP leader said she had indicated during a meeting in London, which was also attended by the party's Westminster leader Nigel Dodds, that her party "will act in the national interest".

She added that the issue of the backstop, the main sticking point for the DUP in Mrs May's rejected Withdrawal Agreement, "needs to be dealt with and we will continue to work to that end".

In a statement issued after the meeting, Mrs Foster said: "These are critical times for the United Kingdom and we have indicated that first and foremost we will act in the national interest.

"Lessons will need to be learned from the vote in Parliament.

"The issue of the backstop needs to be dealt with and we will continue to work to that end."

She confirmed the party will vote in support of the Government "so that we can concentrate on the real challenges ahead of us".

There will be "further engagements in the coming days", she added.

Earlier Mrs Foster said she would urge the Prime Minister to go back to Europe and seek a better deal, and called on the Irish Government to help find solutions to Brexit.

She also claimed there had never been a hard border on the island of Ireland.

She told Northern Ireland-based U105 radio: "For those of us who lived on the border and who were attacked by the IRA, we know that the IRA escaped across that border so it was not a hard border, nobody wants to go back to that.

"I hope that they are now, I hope that our Prime Minister uses that vote last night to go to Europe and to look for a better deal."

The DUP's 10 MPs voted against Theresa May's draft EU Withdrawal Agreement on Tuesday.

The opposition had focused on the backstop, an insurance policy to avoid a hard Irish border after Brexit.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The prime minister's Brexit deal is backed by 202 MPs but 432 vote against.

Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal has been rejected by 230 votes - the largest defeat for a sitting government in history.

MPs voted by 432 votes to 202 to reject the deal, which sets out the terms of Britain's exit from the EU on 29 March.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has now tabled a vote of no confidence in the government, which could trigger a general election.

The confidence vote is expected to be held at about 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

The defeat is a huge blow for Mrs May, who has spent more than two years hammering out a deal with the EU.

The plan was aimed at bringing about an orderly departure from the EU on 29 March, and setting up a 21-month transition period to negotiate a free trade deal.

The vote was originally due to take place in December, but Mrs May delayed it to try and win the support of more MPs.

The UK is still on course to leave on 29 March but the defeat throws the manner of that departure - and the timing of it - into further doubt.

MPs who want either a further referendum, a softer version of the Brexit proposed by Mrs May, to stop Brexit altogether or to leave without a deal, will ramp up their efforts to get what they want, as a weakened PM offered to listen to their arguments.

Laura Kuenssberg: May's nightmare

History was made tonight with the scale of this defeat - a higher figure than the wildest of numbers that were gossiped about before the vote.

But the prime minister's dilemma is a more serious version of the same it's always been.

She has no majority of her own in Parliament to make her middle way through stick. And her many critics don't agree on the direction she should take - a more dramatic break with the EU, or a tighter, softer version.

Those two fundamental and clashing positions have always threatened to pull her and the government apart.

Read more from Laura

The Brexit debate has cut across traditional party lines.

Some 118 Conservative MPs - from both the Leave and Remain wings of her party - voted with the opposition parties against Mrs May's deal.

And three Labour MPs supported the prime minister's deal: Ian Austin (Dudley North), Kevin Barron (Rother Valley) and John Mann (Bassetlaw).

The most controversial sticking point was the issue of the Northern Irish backstop - the fallback plan to avoid any return to physical border checks between the country and Ireland.

Mrs May had hoped new assurances from EU leaders this week, saying the backstop would be temporary and, if triggered, would last for "the shortest possible period", would help her garner more support.

But in the debate leading up to the vote, members from all sides of the House said the move did not go far enough.

Please upgrade your browser to view this interactive Did my MP vote For or Against the Brexit deal? Enter a postcode, or the name or constituency of your MP

Click here if you cannot see the look-up. Data from Commons Votes Services.

In normal times, such a crushing defeat on a key piece of government legislation would be expected to be followed by a prime ministerial resignation.

But Mrs May signalled her intention to carry on in a statement immediately after the vote.

"The House has spoken and this government will listen," she told MPs.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a no confidence motion

She offered cross-party talks to determine a way forward on Brexit, if she succeeded in winning the confidence vote.

Former foreign secretary and leading Brexiteer Boris Johnson said it was a "bigger defeat than people have been expecting" - and it meant Mrs May's deal was now "dead".

But he said it gave the prime minister a "massive mandate to go back to Brussels" to negotiate a better deal, without the controversial Northern Ireland backstop.

And he said he would back Mrs May in Wednesday's confidence vote.

Labour MP Chuka Umunna said that if his leader did not secure a general election, Mr Corbyn should do what the "overwhelming majority" of Labour members want and get behind a further EU referendum.

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable, who also wants a second referendum, said Mrs May's defeat was "the beginning of the end of Brexit" - but conceded that campaigners would not get one without Mr Corbyn's backing.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Mrs May had suffered "a defeat of historic proportions" and called again for the Article 50 "clock to be stopped" in order for another referendum to take place.

"We have reached the point now where it would be unconscionable to kick the can any further down the road," she said.

However, government minister Rory Stewart said there was no majority in the Commons for any Brexit plan, including another referendum.

How a confidence motion works

By the BBC's head of political research Peter Barnes

Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011, UK general elections are only supposed to happen every five years. The next one is due in 2022.

But a vote of no confidence lets MPs decide on whether they want the government to continue. The motion must be worded: "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government."

If a majority of MPs vote for the motion then it starts a 14-day countdown.

If during that time the current government, or any other alternative government cannot win a new vote of confidence, then an early general election would be called.

That election cannot happen for at least 25 working days.

MPs are set to debate Labour's no confidence motion for about six hours following Prime Minister's Questions at 1200.

Mr Corbyn said it would allow the House of Commons to "give its verdict on the sheer incompetence of this government".

But DUP leader Arlene Foster said her party, which keeps Mrs May in power, would be supporting her in Wednesday's confidence vote.

She told the BBC MPs had "acted in the best interests of the entire United Kingdom" by voting down the deal.

But she added: "We will give the government the space to set out a plan to secure a better deal."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Boris Johnson said the majority of 230 in Parliament is "perhaps a bigger defeat than people had been expecting"

In her statement to MPs, Mrs May said she planned to return to the Commons next Monday with an alternative plan - if she survives the confidence vote.

She said she would explore any ideas from cross-party talks with the EU, but she remained committed to delivering on the result of the 2016 referendum.

But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the risk of a disorderly Brexit had increased as a result of the deal being voted down.

He said the agreement was "the only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal" and that he and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, had "demonstrated goodwill" with additional clarifications this week to put MPs minds at rest.

"I urge the United Kingdom to clarify its intentions as soon as possible," he said. "Time is almost up."

Mr Tusk said he regretted the outcome of the vote and later tweeted to ask "who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?"

A statement from the Irish government also said it regretted the decision and that it "continues to believe that ratification of this agreement is the best way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the UK".

It also said it will "continue to intensify preparations" for a no deal Brexit.</s>Theresa May is fighting on two fronts as the Prime Minister fights to retain her grip on power while attempting to find a Brexit compromise that most MPs would support.

Mrs May faces a vote of no confidence today, Wednesday, January 16, after suffering a massive parliamentary defeat over her controversial EU withdrawal agenda.

Labour launched a bid to oust the Government after Mrs May's Withdrawal Agreement was overwhelmingly rejected by 432 votes to 202.

Lincolnshire MPs Victoria Atkins, Nick Boles, Sir Edward Leigh, Caroline Johnson and Matt Warman voted for the deal.

But Lincoln MP Karen Lee (Labour) and South Holland and The Deepings MP Sir John Hayes voted against.

Karen Lee tweeted last night that Theresa May's "botched" deal does not protect workers rights or guarantee frictionless trade.

She later tweeted this:

Sir Edward Leigh told the BBC: "The Remainers have taken over Parliament - they will stop no deal.

"My colleagues in the Tory party voted against the Government. They think the will get no deal but they might get no Brexit or delayed Brexit or permanent customs union with no control over migration."

And Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman tweeted that the chance of a softer Brexit or no Brexit had increased.

Despite the humiliating defeat, Government sources remained optimistic about seeing off Labour's confidence challenge after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and leading figures from the Brexiteer and Pro-Europe wings of the Tory party said they would back the PM.

The scale of the 230-vote rejection of the Government's Brexit agenda saw Mrs May pledge to reach out to leading parliamentarians from across the Commons to try and find a way forward.

With the UK scheduled to exit the EU in just over 10 weeks' time on March 29, the Prime Minister has until next Monday to return to the Commons and present a 'Plan B' option.

After suffering the the biggest government defeat on a meaningful vote for at least a century, which saw 118 Tory MPs rebel, opponents of the PM's Brexit stance insisted Downing Street must now show real movement.

Calls for Article 50 to be extended, meaning the UK remains in the EU longer, also intensified among pro-Europeans.

Mrs May signalled she hoped to find "genuinely negotiable" solutions that she can hammer out with Brussels after the defeat.

However, French president Emmanuel Macron made it clear a renegotiation of the Brexitdeal was unlikely.

Speaking after the Commons vote, he said: "I don't really believe in this, because we already went as far as we could."

He told British leaders to "figure it out yourselves" as he wished them "good luck" as he predicted that Britain would ask for more time to hold talks.

The comments came as it emerged Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark used a private telephone call to tell business chiefs not to expect changes to the legal Brexit withdrawal text, but rather to the political declaration on future relations with the EU, according to Government sources.

The Financial Times, meanwhile, reported Mr Hammond told those on the call the Government would not put any "obstacles" in the way of a plan by Tory MP Nick Boles to give senior backbenchers a role in finding a solution to the deadlock.

"We have to reach out to MPs in the Commons first," the Chancellor is reported to have said. "There is a large majority in the Commons that is opposed to no-deal."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted he was tabling the no confidence motion in the Government because Mrs May's "catastrophic" Brexit defeat represented an "absolutely decisive" verdict by MPs on the Prime Minister's handling of EU withdrawal.

But, Mr Corbyn's hopes of forcing an early general election were dampened as the DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said his party would back Mrs May.

He told BBC2's Newsnight: "We will be supporting the Government in the no confidence motion.

"What it really shows is when it comes to the crunch and the Government's survival is on the line the DUP will be able to keep the Government in power."

Asked if Labour could win Wednesday's no confidence vote, shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told the BBC: "I think the numbers are probably not there tomorrow. We will hope that we can."

Mr Gardiner refused to be drawn on reports that up to 100 Labour MPs were set to call on Mr Corbyn to pivot towards a second Brexit referendum on Wednesday.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who had cancelled travel plans in order to be in Brussels for the aftermath of the vote on Wednesday, voiced "regret" at the defeat of what he termed "the best possible deal".

He said the Commons vote "increased the risk of a disorderly withdrawal" from the EU.

Mr Juncker said: "I urge the United Kingdom to clarify its intentions as soon as possible."</s>THERESA May would have been in esteemed company if she had lost Labour’s vote of no confidence 24 hours after her Brexit deal suffered a humiliating defeat that was without precedent in modern politics.

From Sir Robert Walpole in 1749 to James Callaghan, past premiers of the stature of Lord North, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay MacDonald have been brought down by this means.

Yet, while all political careers, it is said, end in failure, Mrs May draws perverse strength from every setback and soldiers on as a prisoner of history.

Mrs May is helped by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn possessing no coherent Brexit plan of his own, a shortcoming that saw his attempt to bring down the most shambolic and dysfunctional government in living memory fail by 325 to 306 votes.

Tom Richmond: Theresa May humiliated as Brexit spirals out of control

The Prime Minister also survives – for now – because the most uncompromising Brexiteers have overplayed their hand to such an extent that Britain may not leave the European Union.

And she’s assisted by a lack of coherence on the part of Remain supporters as the Lib Dems, the one pro-EU and pro-referendum party, fail to exploit calls for a People’s Vote.

Jayne Dowle: Our MPs must grow up and show leadership

Yet there is little hope when one also reprises how the quality of political debate has deteriorated since the 1975 referendum – and the vote of no confidence in the Callaghan government after Margaret Thatcher’s first attempt failed.

This was a time when politicians of stature made serious and principled speeches that cut across the political divide. Take Mrs Thatcher, who said: “Go anywhere in the country, and one finds that the demand is for two things – less tax and more law and order. The phrase ‘law and order’ does not refer only to vandalism and violence – although that is uppermost in many people’s minds. It means that our citizens expect and are not getting an ordered or orderly society. They expect the rubbish to be cleared, the schools to be open and the hospitals to be functioning. They are not.”

Or Mr Callaghan’s response? “Let need, not greed, be our motto. Our purpose as a Government and as a party is to present a bold, Socialist challenge to all these problems as we face these tasks,” he told MPs before losing the fateful division by one vote.

Compare and contrast this oratory from 40 years ago to the Prime Minister and Opposition leader. Despite this week’s high theatre, neither had anything new to say because they lack the spontaneity, originality and dexterity required to broaden their support base on Brexit – or any other issue.

In a game of brinkmanship to see who can survive for the longest, both main parties find themselves shouting across a void when the national interest demands the precise opposite. And, yes, there are senior Parliamentarians from Yorkshire waiting to be be consulted by Mrs May as Westminster now becomes distracted by the row over whether Mr Corbyn should be involved, or not, in this process when his sole objective is to bring down the Government.

“The Prime Minister needs to reach out across the Commons in a genuine spirit of co-operation and compromise,” a centrist Labour MP told me. “A series of indicative votes might be helpful in determining options around which Parliament could coalesce...it is incumbent on all Parliamentarians to roll up their sleeves, put narrow party interests aside and act in the national interest.”

The problem is achieving this – and then securing the support of at least 326 MPs – when members of Mrs May’s party appear to be as obstinate and obdurate as ever after Tuesday’s vote. Take these examples. The hypocrisy of Morley MP Andrea Jenkyns who demands Mrs May’s resignation while backing the Government in the confidence vote. The scheming of Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General, who won’t stop until there is a second referendum. Or the blustering of Boris Johnson, the ex-Foreign Secretary, who believes the EU will capitulate. With friends, to coin a phrase, like this, who needs enemies?

I could go on. And while just as many Labour MPs are showing little rational thinking, Theresa May will only be able to reach out across the political divide when she has decided whether to put her party or country first.

Her conundrum is this. Back her arch-Eurosceptics over a no-deal Brexit, or ditch her ‘red lines’ on membership of the single market and customs union in order to appease sufficient Remainers on Labour’s benches and, in doing so, risk irreversible splits in the Tory party.

As such, the respite from actually surviving last night’s no confidence vote will be temporary unless the Prime Minister can forge a new style of political dialogue, debate and decision-making two and a half years after she should have reached out to rival parties, business leaders and senior statesmen in order to avoid the fate endured by past premiers and to prolong her rule for now.</s>LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers defeated Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal by a crushing margin on Tuesday, triggering political chaos that could lead to a disorderly exit from the EU or even to a reversal of the 2016 decision to leave.

After parliament voted 432-202 against her deal, the worst defeat in modern British history, opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn promptly called a vote of no confidence in May’s government, to be held at 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the United Kingdom is now ensnared in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project that it joined in 1973.

“It is clear that the House does not support this deal, but tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what it does support,” May told parliament, moments after the result was announced.

“... nothing about how - or even if - it intends to honor the decision the British people took in a referendum parliament decided to hold.”

More than 100 of May’s own Conservative lawmakers - both Brexit backers and supporters of EU membership - joined forces to vote down the deal. In doing so, they smashed the previous record defeat for a government, a 166-vote margin, set in 1924.

The humiliating loss, the first British parliamentary defeat of a treaty since 1864, appeared to catastrophically undermine May’s two-year strategy of forging an amicable divorce with close ties to the EU after the March 29 exit.

With May vowing to stand by her deal and Labour trying to trigger a national election, parliament is still effectively deadlocked, with no alternative proposal.

May’s spokesman told reporters that May’s deal could still form the basis of an accord with the EU, but opponents disagreed.

“This deal is dead,” said Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party’s most prominent Brexiteer, who urged May to go back to Brussels to seek better terms.

A Labour Party spokesman said it was becoming more likely that Britain would have to ask the EU to postpone the departure date required by the Article 50 withdrawal notice.

Government ministers told business leaders late on Tuesday that lawmakers were preparing a motion to delay Article 50, according to a source who was on the call.

MAY APPEARS SAFE

If there was any consolation for May, it was that her internal adversaries appeared set to fight off the attempt to topple her.

The small Northern Irish DUP party, which props up May’s minority government and refused to back the deal, said it would still stand behind May in the no-confidence vote. The pro-Brexit Conservatives who were the most vehement opponents of her deal also said they would support her.

Labour has said if it fails to trigger an election then it will look at the possibility of supporting another referendum.

The EU said the Brexit deal remained the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said there would be no further renegotiation.

“The risk of a disorderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom has increased with this evening’s vote,” said EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, adding that it would intensify preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May sits down in Parliament after the vote on May's Brexit deal, in London, Britain, January 15, 2019 in this screengrab taken from video. Reuters TV via REUTERS

But Donald Tusk, the chairman of EU leaders, suggested Britain should now consider reversing Brexit altogether.

“If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?” he tweeted.

Sterling rallied more than a cent against the dollar, on some expectations that the scale of the defeat might force lawmakers to pursue other options. [GBP/]

May said she would reach out to opposition parties to forge a way ahead. But Corbyn, who wants Labour to be given the chance to negotiate with Brussels, was dismissive.

“After two years of failed negotiations, the House of Commons has delivered its verdict on her Brexit deal, and that verdict is absolutely decisive,” he said. “Her governing principle of delay and denial has reached the end of the line.”

AT A CROSSROADS

Ever since Britain voted by 52-48 percent to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016, the political class has been debating how to leave the European project forged by France and Germany after the devastation of World War Two.

While the country is divided over EU membership, most agree that the world’s fifth largest economy is at a crossroads and that its choices over Brexit will shape the prosperity of future generations.

“UK assets will continue to be vulnerable to the political volatility and we don’t expect this will subside until a concrete conclusion emerges,” UBS Wealth Management told clients.

Before the vote, May had told pro-Brexit lawmakers that if her plan was rejected, it was more likely that Britain would not leave the EU at all than that it would leave without a deal.

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Supporters of EU membership cast Brexit as a gigantic mistake that will undermine the West, smash Britain’s reputation as a stable destination for investment and slowly weaken London’s position as a global capital.

Many opponents of Brexit hope May’s defeat will ultimately lead to another referendum on EU membership, though Brexit backers say that thwarting the will of the 17.4 million who voted for Brexit could radicalize much of the electorate.

“I became prime minister immediately after that referendum,” May said. “I believe it is my duty to deliver on their instruction, and I intend to do so.”

Brexit supporters cast leaving as a way to break free from a Union they see as overly bureaucratic and fast falling behind the leading economic powers of the 21st century, the United States and China.</s>The British Parliament’s long-anticipated vote on a plan to withdraw from the European Union — also known as Brexit — came to its expected conclusion on Tuesday night when lawmakers weighed in on a deal proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May.

No one really thought that at the last minute Mrs. May would be able to pull a rabbit out of her hat to secure approval for the plan. And she didn’t, with her Brexit deal rejected by a vote of 432 to 202. Now she has to go hat in hand to Brussels to see if she can work some magic there.

Spoiler alert: She almost certainly cannot.

Here’s what to know as Britain enters uncharted territory of the process that is Brexit.

The opposition has called a vote of no confidence.

On Tuesday night, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, called for a vote of no confidence in Mrs. May’s government, denouncing what he called its “sheer incompetence.”</s>The so-called meaningful vote will take place around 8pm on Tuesday , January 15. The vote was initially set for December 11, but the government delayed after defeat seemed inevitable. However, after more than a month to win MPs over, support for the deal still seems scarce.

How are the numbers looking?

In total, there are 650 MPs in Parliament, but not all of them will vote.

So excluding the non-voting members such as the Speaker, we’re looking at an estimated 639 votes to be cast.

That means Theresa May will need 320 votes to get over the hump and win the vote.

The vote will be decided on a simple majority, with the actual number needed for a victory dependent on abstentions and absences on the day.

READ MORE: What exactly does Theresa May's Brexit deal say? The key points explained</s>The true believers hated it. Just about everyone else didn’t see the point. Two thirds of the MPs who did vote for the government’s Brexit withdrawal deal were literally the government: the so-called “payroll vote” of ministers, whips, aides and so on. Most of the rest of Theresa May’s party deserted her on the floor of the House of Commons. They didn’t even abstain, they turned out in numbers to express their disgust with her Brexit plan. May won a lukewarm vote of confidence in her leadership in December, but this was an ice-cold vote against her work on its most important project.

A similar paradox is likely to be acted out in the confidence vote on Wednesday. Unless the Northern Irish DUP has a radical change of mind overnight, the parliament will confirm that it wants May’s minority government to continue governing… just differently. How differently is the big question. Before the vote it had been widely predicted that May would soldier on with her Brexit withdrawal deal after a loss. Sooner or later, this theory went, an essentially identical deal would return to the Commons, garnished with further ‘assurances’ of good faith from the EU and laced with increasing urgency as the March 29 Brexit date approaches. But May would have to be desperate indeed to try this tactic now, given the scale of the loss, the biggest in UK history on a significant vote.

Still, she may get that desperate. The big question is what on earth the alternative might be. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May listens to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking after losing a vote on her Brexit deal. May’s anger was plain when, after the vote, she told off the Commons for giving her no idea of what kind of Brexit it wouldn’t vote down. It’s unlikely there are the numbers to bring on a new referendum. It’s unlikely there will ever be the numbers for May’s deal. It’s very unlikely there are the numbers simply to cancel Brexit, though it is within the parliament’s power. The only alternative, apart from reopening negotiations with the EU (which the EU say isn’t on the table) is an economically ruinous ‘no deal’ Brexit, which has even less support in parliament than a referendum, but has the ‘virtue’ of being the default option that doesn’t require a vote.

Previous Brexit debates in the Commons – and there have been many – often had a sense of fun, or at least combative spirit. Not today. Today was grim. There was a pervading sense of sadness, even anger, and often regret. This was a parliament realising it has failed. The deal is not nearly good enough to vote for, was the majority mood. But they could only bicker helplessly about what to do about it.

Some thought the withdrawal deal that Theresa May had negotiated was not good enough because it didn’t deliver enough Brexit, that it left the country in a halfway house still following EU rules and vulnerable in the coming trade and customs negotiation – a deal crafted out of fear of leaving the EU rather than hope for an unshackled future. It led to some odd speeches, along the lines of ‘the people have voted and it is our solemn duty to deliver Brexit, and that’s why I’m voting against it’. This lot seem increasingly resigned to (and determined to deny the dangers of) a ‘no deal’ Brexit. Others argued passionately that any Brexit is too much, that their job as representatives of the people was to make their lives better, not sign up to a policy that will make them worse.
British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal is defeated in Parliament by 432 votes to 202, the worst defeat for a Prime Minister in modern British history. As a result, a vote of no confidence in her government will be held tomorrow.