No-deal Brexit off the table as MPs reject leaving EU without a deal

17 Conservatives are understood to have voted against the Government. 

Earlier, MPs voted by 312 to 308 to approve an amendment proposed by Conservative MP Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour MP Jack Dromey to stop the UK leaving the European Union without a deal in any circumstance.

READ MORE: Philip Hammond: 'Scotland gets its fair share, and precious little thanks we get for it' 

Dame Caroline attempted to withdraw the amendment, but it was moved by fellow signatory Yvette Cooper and won the support of a majority of MPs during a string of crunch Brexit votes on Wednesday evening.

The amendment, which is not legally binding, was added to a Government motion tabled by Theresa May which would have rejected no-deal on the scheduled Brexit date of March 29 but left it on the table for other times.

It clears the way for the Prime Minister to bring forward a motion for debate on Thursday on whether Parliament wants her to seek a delay to Brexit by requesting an extension to the two-year Article 50 negotiation period.

However no-deal remains the default option unless an extension is agreed with the 27 other EU states, or a deal is passed before the end of the month.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that Parliament must now take control of the Brexit process and his party will work across the House of Commons to seek a compromise solution.

To avoid a walkout by Cabinet ministers who oppose a no-deal Brexit, Mrs May initially gave Tories a free vote on the Government motion.

But this was transformed into a three-line whip to oppose the amended motion.
Opposition MPs blamed strong-arm tactics by Tory whips as Dame Caroline tried to pull her amendment before it came to a vote.

The former Tory chairman told the Commons that Mrs May's motion offered a greater opportunity than hers for obtaining a "really large majority" against a no-deal Brexit.

But Speaker John Bercow told her it was not possible for her to withdraw the amendment, as one of its other signatories could move it to a vote.

Independent Group MP Anna Soubry told the Commons: "It's a shameful carry-on when a former chairman of the Conservative Party is whipped against to the extent she will not push that amendment to the vote."

READ MORE: Watch and dare to hope as fools take over the asylum 

Following the vote an EU Commission spokesperson: “There are only two ways to leave the EU: with or without a deal. The EU is prepared for both. To take no deal off the table, it is not enough to vote against no deal.

"You have to agree to a deal. We have agreed a deal with the Prime Minister and the EU is ready to sign it.”

Following the vote, Sarah Newton has resigned as a minister at the Department for Work and Pensions over the Brexit vote, a DWP source said.

This called for a "standstill" agreement lasting as late as the end of 2021, during which the UK would observe EU rules and pay into Brussels budgets while a full trade deal is negotiated.

The EU has already rejected the idea, which it views as amounting to a transition period without a formal Withdrawal Agreement.

An extension to Article 50 can only be granted by unanimity among the 27 remaining EU member states, and Brussels has made clear they will do so only if the UK presents a "credible" justification for being given more time.