Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
London: British lawmakers tied 310-310 on Wednesday in a vote on an amendment to hold another round of "indicative votes" on Brexit options. Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow then voted against the amendment, saying that he will not vote to create a majority.
Bercow said that he followed the parliamentary procedure by voting against the amendment.
"In accordance with precedent and on the principle that important decisions should not be taken except by a majority, I cast my votes with the noes. So the noes have it," Bercow said.
In a later vote, MPs voted 312 to 311 to support the proposal to debate a bill to block a no-deal Brexit.
The votes came as British Prime Minister Theresa May was meeting with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to find a way forward to leave the EU.
May defended her decision to meet Corbyn in response to criticism from her own Conservative MPs, saying that working with the Labour is the "only way" to deliver a smooth and orderly Brexit as she wrote to Tory MPs appealing for unity.
She said that her deal is "unlikely" to pass on votes from Conservative and Democratic Unionist Party MPs.
"With some colleagues unwilling to support the government in the division lobbies, this is the only way to deliver the smooth, orderly Brexit that we promised," she wrote.
The UK has until April 12, the latest Brexit date, to propose a plan to the European Union, which must be accepted by them, or it will leave the regional bloc without a deal.
