Brexit vote result - LIVE: Jeremy Corbyn tables vote of no confidence in Theresa May that could bring down government after historic 230-vote Commons defeat
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Washington Bureau Chief
MPs overwhelmingly rejected Theresa May’s divorce deal with the EU on Tuesday evening, plunging the Brexit process into chaos.
The defeat was widely expected, but the scale of the House of Commons’ vote – 432 votes against the government and 202 in support – was devastating for Ms May’s fragile leadership.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn put forward a confidence motion in the aftermath of the crushing loss, which made history as the biggest ever government defeat on the floor of the House of Commons.
The defeat by 230 votes easily beat the previous record of 166 votes, set in 1924 by the minority Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald.
Parliament finally delivered its verdict on the prime minister’s withdrawal agreement after months of debate, as crowds of both Leave and Remain protesters gathered outside parliament to express their anger.
Ms May insisted she intended to stay on, setting out plans for talks with senior parliamentarians in the hope of finding “genuinely negotiable” solutions which she can take to Brussels.
But she faces another crucial vote on Wednesday after the Labour leader moved to table a formal motion of no confidence in her government.
Senior ministers reportedly told top business leaders that a motion to delay the Article 50 process of leaving the EU is being prepared in a conference call following the vote defeat.
To follow events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below:
Countdown: We're now around 20 minutes away from the result of the "meaningful vote" on Theresa May's Brexit deal.
RESULT: MPs reject John Baron's amendment by 24 votes to 600.
The motion would have demanded that UK have the right to leave the Northern Ireland backstop without the EU's approval.
The BBC is reporting that Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, will respond to this evening's vote later tonight.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran says the "no" lobby is "heaving" with Conservative MPs....
Labour's Bill Esterson has tweeted photos of MPs queuing to vote against Theresa May's Brexit deal
We’re in the Commons chamber where the result of tonight’s historic vote is due to be announced in the next few minutes. MPs are filing back in and the chamber is filling up as Parliament and the rest of the world awaits the outcome.
Just to remind you, Theresa May is expected to give a statement immediately after the result of the vote is announced.
RESULT: MPs reject Theresa May’s deal by 202 votes to 432 - a margin of 230. That is the biggest Commons defeat on record.
Theresa May is now speaking, via a point of order.
She starts by saying:
"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."
The prime minister addresses the question of a no confidence vote head on, announcing that the government will make time for a formal vote of no confidence vote tomorrow, if Labour tables a motion. It will also consider holding a vote on a motion tabled by other opposition parties, she says.
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