London, Mar 13 (UNI) The British legislators have rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's updated Brexit plan, in the second meaningful vote in parliament since January, with just 17 days to go to Brexit.
MPs in the lower chamber House of Commons on Tuesday voted against May's revised EU withdrawal agreement by 391 to 242, another heavy defeat since Jan 15, when MPs rejected May's Brexit deal by a margin of 230.
In a statement after the defeat, PM May said, "I continue to believe that by far the best outcome is the UK leaves the European Union in an orderly fashion with a deal. And that the deal we have negotiated is the best and indeed only deal available.", BBC reported.
Setting out the next steps, she said MPs will vote on Wednesday on whether the UK should leave the EU without a deal or not.
If they vote against a no-deal Brexit, they will vote the following day on whether Article 50 - the legal mechanism taking the UK out of the EU on 29 March - should be extended.
May said MPs would have to decide whether they want to delay Brexit, hold another referendum, or whether they "want to leave with a deal but not this deal".
She said that the choices facing the UK were "unenviable", but because of the rejection of her deal, "they are choices that must be faced".
May also told MPs the government would announce details of how the UK will manage its border with Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday.
The United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union on March 29. May's Brexit deal was voted down on Jan 15 in the heaviest parliamentary defeat of any British prime minister in the modern era.
With her Brexit deal rejected again in the parliament, the prime minister then faces a possible defeat on a second vote on Wednesday to prevent a no-deal Brexit on March 29, and a third vote on Thursday to extend the Article 50 divorce process, likely until the end of June.
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