Government survives no confidence vote amid uncertainty over the path ahead

The British prime minister Theresa May has managed to weather the no confidence vote in her government on Wednesday evening, but the path ahead for Brexit looks unclear for the Conservative leader.

Following the vote, which May won 325 votes to 306 after her party and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs opted to support her, she invited Jeremy Corbyn and other opposition party leaders to hold urgent talks to draft a plan B Brexit deal.

‘I would like to ask the leaders of the parliamentary parties to meet with me individually, and I would like to start those meetings tonight,’ she said.

However, Corbyn snubbed the Conservative leader’s invitation to help draft an alternative EU exit strategy for the UK, telling May that she must scrap any plans for a no-deal Brexit.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Ian Blackford called for a second referendum to be put on the table before he would entertain May’s request of help in finding an alternative path for Brexit.

Plan B Brexit deadline looms large

It is no wonder that May is so eager to work across the aisle to thrash out a new Brexit deal, with the British prime minister having just five days before she must present an alternative plan to MPs in parliament.

Despite limited support for her original deal, the Conservative leader is adamant that she will not move on her red lines, including remaining a member of the EU customs union, which is a major point of contention for Tory Brexiteers.

Her unwillingness to budge on key aspects of her original deal makes it a challenge to create a palatable plan B that will garner the support she needs in parliament to leave the EU with a deal in place, espeically when her original Brexit deal suffered the largest defeat the House of Commons has seen since the 1920’s.

No-deal Brexit still a possibility

Despite suffering a historic defeat in parliament and opposition party leaders calling for the government to take a no-deal Brexit off the table, Downing Street said that such a scenario can not be ruled out.

‘We will leave the European Union, our preference is with a deal,’ a Downing Street spokesman said. And when asked if he is going to take a no-deal Brexit off the table spokesman said: ‘I am not.’