British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during the debate in the House of Commons in London, Britain, on March 29, 2019. British lawmakers on Friday voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which has already been rejected twice in Parliament since January. (Xinhua/UK Parliament/Mark Duffy)

by Xinhua writers Gu Zhenqiu, Gui Tao

LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- British lawmakers on Friday voted to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, dealing a third blow since January to the Withdrawal Agreement, which sets out the terms of Britain's departure from the European Union (EU).

THIRD DEFEAT

MPs voted 286 to 344 to turn down the Brexit deal. Britain now is facing a real possibility of no-deal Brexit on April 12 unless the prime minister can win a new agreement from Brussels, where EU leaders are set to meet in a summit on April 10.

One more vote, one more defeat. Chaos and uncertainty remain in the country.

The prime minister's third defeat came despite her offer to step down if her deal passed.

May's resignation offer did not win enough support for her deal, although the margins were getting smaller in each of the three votes over the past three months.

The Withdrawal Agreement, reached between London and Brussels in November 2018 after long painful negotiations, was rejected in the House of Commons by a record 230 votes in January and by 149 earlier this month. Friday's majority was 58.

A string of Brexit-backing Conservative backbenchers who had voted against May's deal in the previous two meaningful votes switched sides during parliamentary debates to support the agreement after the prime minister agreed to resign.

However, the opposition Labour Party is still unwilling to shift its political stance over the deal, and the 10 MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party are determined vote it down, just like what it did in the first two votes. From Northern Ireland, the DUP props up May's minority government.

Therefore, it was not enough to secure a majority for the prime minister, who has been waging an uphill fight to save her Brexit deal.

NO-DEAL PROSPECT REAL

After the Friday vote, the prime minister said in the House of Commons that "The implications of the House's decision are grave. I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House."

Meanwhile, she vowed to press ahead for "the orderly Brexit that the result of the referendum demands."

In response, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, directly called on the prime minister to step down and trigger a general election. The opposition leader's remarks in the parliament were echoed by MPs from other parties.

Given the latest vote outcome, observers here said that the prospects for a no-deal Brexit is real although the parliament already voted to reject a hard Brexit.

The prime minister warned that time is not enough to win a new agreement from Brussels with only 14 days to go until the new Brexit day, and the parliament has to decide whether Britain will take part in the European Parliament elections in May, scheduled for May 23-26.

The original Brexit day of March 29 was intended to avoid the British participation in the coming elections.

Any new Brexit date requires unanimous approval from 27 EU countries.

The European Commission, which said the latest parliamentary rejection is regretful, also said that a no-deal Brexit on April 12 was "now a likely scenario."

UNCERTAINTY LINGERS

The prime minister's third defeat came on the day when the United Kingdom was meant to be leaving the EU, the largest trading bloc in the world.

Instead, the original Brexit day turned to be a day of protest, anger and blame as thousands of pro-Brexit British people gathered hours before the vote in a square near the parliament in order to have their voices heard. MPs on Wednesday voted to change original Brexit departure day of March 29 in law to April 12 or May 22.

Nigel Farage, a broadcaster and leader of the Brexit Party, said at the rally that "history will mark (today) as the day of great betrayal."

The Friday vote does not mark the end of efforts and tests. MPs are due to hold another series of "indicative votes" on Monday in order to find a majority in the parliament to break the current Brexit deadlock.

At the same time, the Friday vote dramatically increases the chances of a long delay to Britain's EU divorce. The prime minister has earlier openly opposed any longer Brexit postponement, saying she would like only seek "short and technical" extension of the Brexit process.