Jeremy Corbyn calls for May to go IMMEDIATELY and demands a general election after PM loses third Brexit vote

  • Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded Theresa May step down as PM 
  • Mrs May's Brexit deal was left in tatters today after her agreement was defeated 
  • Mr Corbyn spoke in favour of a general election after May's crucial defeat 
  • The Labour leader said: 'The House has been clear this deal now has to change'

By HENRY MARTIN FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

Jeremy Corbyn called for Theresa May to step down immediately and demanded a general election after the Prime Minister lost a third Brexit vote.

Mrs May's Brexit deal was left in tatters today after her withdrawal agreement received 286 votes from MPs but 344 voted against it - a deficit of 58 votes 

Labour leader Mr Corbyn called for the defeated PM to stand aside, saying: 'This is now the third time the Prime Minister's deal has been rejected. When it was defeated the first time, the Prime Minister said it was clear this House does not support the deal.

'Does she now finally accept this House does not support the deal? Because she seemed to indicate just now that she is going to return to this issue again.

Jeremy Corbyn called for Mrs May to step aside and for a general election to be held

Jeremy Corbyn called for Mrs May to step aside and for a general election to be held

'On Monday, this House has the chance, and I say to all members, the responsibility to find a majority for a better deal for all the people of this country.

'The House has been clear this deal now has to change. There has to be an alternative found.

'If the Prime Minister can't accept that then she must go. Not at an indeterminate date in the future, but now, so that we can decide the future of this country through a general election.'

Mr Corbyn's remarks came after Mrs May told the Commons it 'should be a matter of profound regret to every member of this house that once again we have been unable to support leaving the European Union in an orderly fashion'. 

Mrs May has now hinted she will consider collapsing Parliament and calling a general election after the 'grave' result.

Britain will now not leave the EU on May 22 and Mrs May is expected to beg Brussels for a longer Article 50 extension to avoid a No Deal Brexit on April 12.

Mr Corbyn said: 'The House has been clear this deal now has to change. There has to be an alternative found'

Mr Corbyn said: 'The House has been clear this deal now has to change. There has to be an alternative found'

The result of the crunch vote means the UK missed an EU deadline to secure an extension of the Brexit process and leave with a deal on May 22.

With a clear majority in the Commons against no-deal, and with MPs once more seizing control of the timetable on Monday, Mrs May said that the UK would have to find 'an alternative way forward'.

Mrs May - who has previously promised to step down as Prime Minister if her deal was approved - appeared to hint that this was a possibility, telling MPs: 'I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House.'

She said: 'This House has rejected no deal. It has rejected no Brexit. On Wednesday it rejected all the variations of the deal on the table.

'And today it has rejected approving the Withdrawal Agreement alone and continuing a process on the future.

'This Government will continue to press the case for the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands.'  

The result of the crunch vote means the UK missed an EU deadline to secure an extension of the Brexit process and leave with a deal on May 22

The result of the crunch vote means the UK missed an EU deadline to secure an extension of the Brexit process and leave with a deal on May 22 

Mr Corbyn's remarks came after Mrs May told the Commons it 'should be a matter of profound regret to every member of this house that once again we have been unable to support leaving the European Union in an orderly fashion'

The fate of Mrs May's deal was sealed as 34 Conservative MPs went through the No lobby, while only five Labour MPs voted with the Prime Minister.

After her defeat the SNP's Ian Blackford told the House that Mrs May has to accept her deal has been defeated three times.  

He said: 'We need to to apply the handbrake to this process, and quite simply Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister has failed to take this deal forward, she does not have the confidence of the House. 

'The Prime Minister has indicated her departure. She should now go and we should be having a general election.'

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said: 'It does beggar belief that the Prime Minister still seems to not recognise a dead deal when there's one right in front of her - it has now been defeated three times and that is in spite of the procedural games that have been played.'

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