Friday 29 March 2019 3:52 pm | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 12:50 am

Brexit march descends on Westminster as MPs reject Theresa May’s deal for a third time

Thousands of Brexit supporters have descended on parliament, where MPs have rejected Theresa May's Brexit for a third time.

The protest – to mark the original date that the UK was due to leave the EU – will feature speeches from Ukip leader Gerrard Batten and the founder of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson.

A march that started in Sunderland two weeks ago, which former Ukip leader Nigel Farage joined, also gathered at Westminster.

https://twitter.com/LeaveMnsLeave/status/1111599295835398149

Earlier this afternoon MPs voted against the Prime Minister's deal by 344 votes to 286.

he Prime Minister lost the deal by a majority of 58 votes, narrowing a defeat of 240 votes in January and 149 votes in March as a number of Tories who were previously opposed to the deal, such as Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Jacob Rees-Mogg swung behind it.

Only five Labour MPs – Kevin Barron, Rosie Cooper, Jim Fitzpatrick, Caroline Flint and John Mann – voted for the deal, while 34 Tories defied the whip and voted against it.

Addressing the house, May said the implications of the House's decisions were "grave".

She said it was "matter of profound regret that once again this House been unable to support leaving European Union in an orderly way" and that the UK was now due to leave the EU on 12 April, which she said did not allow enough time to agree or ratify a deal.

If parliament is unable to find an alternative way forward by 12 April, the Prime Minister could be forced to ask the EU for a long extension to Article 50 – the mechanism that allows the UK to leave the bloc – which Brexiters fear could imperil Brexit by granting time for a general election or second referendum.