A total of 432 votes against – including that from former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab – and 202 in favour, was how it went down yesterday for UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed withdrawal agreement with the European Union. Now the Association of British Insurers (ABI) is calling for immediate action.
“We need a way forward urgently that avoids no-deal,” commented ABI director general Huw Evans following the historic vote. “This is uncharted territory and we face a period of unprecedented uncertainty.
“It is critical that the Government, Parliament, and the EU work together to avoid an outcome that would be bad for our economies and bad for our customers.”
There are about 10 weeks left before the divorce date of March 29. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, believes time is running out.
I take note with regret of the outcome of the vote in the @HouseofCommons this evening. I urge the #UK to clarify its intentions as soon as possible. Time is almost up #Brexit https://t.co/SMmps5kexn
— Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU) January 15, 2019
Last November the MP for Esher and Walton resigned from his post as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with Raab saying he could not “in good conscience support the terms proposed.” His predecessor David Davis MP quit for the same reason.
Meanwhile in her statement to the House of Commons following last night’s defeat, the Prime Minister said “the House has spoken and the Government will listen.
“It is clear that the House does not support this deal. But tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what it does support. Nothing about how – or even if – it intends to honour the decision the British people took in a referendum Parliament decided to hold” in 2016.
May, who cited “more uncertainty, more bitterness, and more rancour” as the days pass without a resolution, asserted: “I became Prime Minister immediately after that referendum. I believe it is my duty to deliver on their instruction and I intend to do so.”
What follows now, as the nation looks on, is today’s confidence vote.
