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MPs in uproar as Theresa May delays Brexit meaningful vote

Number 10 has confirmed reports that the Prime Minister will delay this week's meaningful vote on her Brexit deal.

Theresa May told journalists on board a flight to Sharm El Sheikh that the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal will now be held by 13 March – just two weeks until the UK's scheduled exit date of 29 March.

May has landed in the Egyptian city for an EU summit in which she would continue her efforts to secure changes to the Irish backstop, the insurance policy to avoid a hard border in Norther Ireland, to win over MPs who are sceptical about her deal. 

Read more: May warns Brexit must not be frustrated amid Cabinet mutiny over no deal

The Prime Minister has been pushing for assurances from the EU on the temporary nature of the backstop, such as a time limit or a mechanism that would allow the UK to withdraw from it unilaterally.

However, the EU has repeatedly insisted that the backstop is not up for renegotiation, with an EU official warning that there would be "no deal in the desert".

May had promised to hold a meaningful vote on her Brexit deal for 27 February but it became clear she was facing an uphill battle after her own cabinet colleagues warned they would back an amendment to delay Article 50 to prevent the UK leaving the EU on 29 March without a deal.

“It would be better to seek to extend Article 50 and delay our date of departure rather than crash out of the European Union on 29 March,” they wrote.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Tory MP Sir Oliver Letwin have tabled an amendment that would seek to delay Article 50 – the mechanism by which the UK leaves the EU – if the Prime Minister is unable to secure a deal by mid March.

Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson are also tabling their own amendment which would support May's deal in exchange for it going back to the public in a second referendum. 

Read more: Tom Watson: Jeremy Corbyn needs to change Labour to save its 'soul'

A number of MPs rounded on May for delaying the Brexit vote for the third time. Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer called the further delay "the height of irresponsibility".

Sarah Wollaston, who left the Conservative party last week to join the Independent Group, called the tactic a "blackmail Brexit" and urged her former colleagues to resign.

https://twitter.com/sarahwollaston/status/1099669599249985536

Businesses reacted with fury as well, with Adam Marshall, of the British Chambers of Commerce, tweeting that the decision was "unbelievable".