Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Parliamentary deadlock as MPs reject every Brexit option in indicative votes Parliament is deadlocked on a way forward to resolve the Brexit crisis after a series of Commons votes showed that there was no option commanding majority support. MPs rejected an option for the softest possible Brexit of keeping the UK in both the European Union’s customs union and single market by a majority of 95. However, the result was much closer on the proposal by Ken Clarke, the former chancellor, to keep Britain in a customs union only. It was defeated by only eight votes. Thirty-three Tory MPs backed the plan including Damian Green, Theresa May’s former deputy, and Rory Stewart, the justice minister. There was also a closer-than-expected result on a proposal to put any outcome to a second referendum. After a Labour backbench rebellion, the plan was rejected by 27 MPs. Labour whipped its MPs to support its favoured options of a customs union with the EU and putting any ultimate decision to a second referendum. The Conservative Party allowed its MPs a free vote but cabinet ministers were instructed to abstain. – The Times (£) How MPs voted on the indicative votes – FT (£) > On BrexitCentral: Results of the Brexit indicative votes: MPs reject all options > WATCH: Speaker John Bercow reveals the results of the Indicative Votes Theresa May vows to resign if her Brexit deal is passed… Theresa May offered last night to quit to get her EU divorce deal over the line as Brexit looked set to claim a second Conservative prime minister in three years. In a highly charged address, Mrs May told Tory MPs that she accepted they wanted new leadership to negotiate Britain’s future relationship with the bloc. She did not name a departure date but No 10 said later that she would call a leadership contest within weeks of the withdrawal agreement’s ratification. Boris Johnson announced that he was falling into line within an hour of her promise to quit. However, the Democratic Unionist Party declared that it was still opposed to the deal, casting doubt on a third Commons vote tomorrow. MPs plunged the process further into chaos when they failed to find a majority for an alternative to Mrs May’s deal in votes held after a cross-party group seized control of the Commons agenda. Proposals for a second referendum and a customs union both polled more than the prime minister’s deal, however. Mrs May had been under growing pressure to signal her departure but went further than expected at a packed meeting called by the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers. – The Times (£) Theresa May will quit if MPs back her Brexit deal but DUP and hardline Brexiteers remain unmoved – Telegraph (£) …and Boris Johnson announces that he will back it ‘to prevent Parliament from stealing Brexit’… Boris Johnson said his decision to back Theresa May’s deal has filled him with “pain” but was needed to prevent Parliament from “stealing Brexit”. The former Foreign Secretary announced on Wednesday night he would vote for the Withdrawal Agreement, shortly after Mrs May said she would resign if she can get it through. Mr Johnson told The Telegraph: “I’ve done this on behalf of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit. I feel very, very sorry and though it fills me with pain, I’m going to have to support this thing. Sometimes you just have to make a judgment. We have got to get this thing over the line. You can hang on and be pure but in the end the thing I fought for may never happen. I genuinely think that unless this thing gets through, the House of Commons is going to steal Brexit. What I said to [Theresa May] on Sunday is that there has to be change in the second half. And the most important thing is that we have to change and start again. Unless there’s change we could genuinely not get what the 17.4m voted for.” – Telegraph (£) …but the DUP vow to continue opposing May’s deal as it remains a ‘threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom’ The DUP appeared to have crushed Theresa May’s hopes of saving her Brexit deal as they flatly refused to back her deal – despite her offer to resign. DUP leader Arlene Foster said her party still could not support the deal because it still posed “a threat to the integrity” of the UK. Party bosses also ruled out any idea that they might abstain if the PM’s deal is brought back for a vote on Friday. The DUP decision means Mrs May would have to rely on the unlikely support of dozens of Tory hardline Brexiteers and Labour MPs. DUP leader Arlene Foster said the Brexit deal would endanger the union of the United Kingdom as she made clear her party could still not support Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement. She said: “What we can’t agree to is something that threatens the union, that has a strategic risk to the union. For us in the Democratic Unionist Party, the union will always come first and that has been the issue right from the beginning of all of this.” Senior DUP figure Nigel Dodds also ruled out abstention saying: “We don’t abstain on the future of the Union. – The Sun > WATCH: DUP Leader Arlene Foster explains why they cannot support the PM’s deal John Bercow sparks fury by threatening to block new Commons vote on the deal… Speaker John Bercow provoked howls of fury by again threatening to block Theresa May’s third big vote on Brexit. For the second time in a fortnight he threw a major spanner into the Government’s plans to bring back her Meaningful Vote or a third time by suggesting it would breach Parliamentary rules. The Speaker warned Mrs May her deal must have changed from the last time she brought it forward and she cannot use a procedural device known as a ‘paving motion’. Last Wednesday Bercow used ancient rules from 1604 that say the same proposal cannot be put before the House repeatedly. He said that he would block a ‘paving motion’ where MPs vote to say they want a third vote, before the vote. Bercow has been accused by some MPs of being a Remainer bent on thwarting Brexit. He told MPs: “I understand that the government may be thinking of bringing meaningful vote three before the house either tomorrow or even on Friday, if the house opts to sit that day. Therefore, in order that there should be no misunderstanding, I wish to make clear that I do expect the government to meet the test of change.” – The Sun Bercow issues fresh warning over third vote on May’s Brexit deal – Guardian …as the Speaker insists he is only ‘biased in favour of Parliament’… Theresa May’s promise to resign dominated the front pages in Britain on Thursday. But in Europe, it was another political figure who was sharing the limelight. John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, featured in an interview that was published in Germany and Italy as he faced questions of bias amid the Brexit chaos. Earlier this month, Mr Bercow’s ruling over another vote on the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal earned him the title of ‘The Brexit Destroyer’ in some parts of the press, along with a suggestion that he had potentially triggered a constitutional crisis. On Wednesday, Mr Bercow issued a fresh warning that substantial changes were required to allow a third meaningful vote on Mrs May’s Brexit deal. In a final bid to win over eurosceptic MPs, Mrs May promised to fall on her sword if they backed her Brexit deal, which is expected to be put to the vote on Friday – if Mr Bercow allows it. – Telegraph (£) …with the Government looking at unblocking the impasse by cutting the deal in half Theresa May is considering a dramatic move to bypass a blockade on her Brexit plan by House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, by splitting her deal in two and presenting only one half to MPs for a vote. The prime minister is looking at holding a vote only on the 585-page draft withdrawal treaty — the legally binding divorce agreement with the EU— while spinning off the 26-page non-binding political declaration on future relations with the bloc. The idea has been circulating in Downing Street all week, but has been given greater urgency by Mr Bercow’s renewed warning on Wednesday that he would not accept a third meaningful vote on substantially the same exit package that MPs have already voted down twice. “It’s certainly true that if you only voted on the withdrawal treaty on its own it would be substantially different,” said one ally to Mrs May. Ministers close to her confirmed the idea was under active consideration. Many opposition MPs’ are more concerned about the political declaration — which critics say should give greater focus to retaining close ties within the EU — than about the withdrawal treaty. But Eurosceptic Conservatives and Mrs May’s Northern Irish allies are principally worried about the exit treaty. – FT (£) Another Labour frontbencher resigns to vote against second referendum Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow housing minister has resigned and three shadow cabinet ministers abstained in protest against a three-line whip to vote in favour of plans for a second referendum. Melanie Onn confirmed she had resigned to vote against the option in the ballot of MPs on Wednesday and the shadow cabinet ministers Jon Trickett, Ian Lavery and Andrew Gwynne all abstained to register their discomfort with the plan. Labour confirmed on Wednesday that it would expect MPs to support a motion, tabled by Margaret Beckett, which said parliament should not ratify any Brexit deal “unless and until” it has been approved in a “confirmatory public vote”. Corbyn wrote to Labour MPs on Wednesday afternoon stressing that his party’s first priority was “to deliver our credible Brexit plan” in an attempt to avert a wave of resignations from his frontbench. But the Labour leader was already facing a fierce backlash from a group of shadow cabinet ministers, many of them strong supporters of his leadership, who are wary of supporting a measure that appeared to be aimed at overturning Brexit. – Guardian EU cannot betray ‘increasing majority’ who want UK to Remain, claims Donald Tusk… Donald Tusk issued a rallying call to the “increasing majority” of British people who want to cancel Brexit and stay in the EU, hours before MPs were given the chance to back a second referendum. In a stirring intervention on Wednesday, the European council president praised those who marched on the streets of London and the millions who are petitioning the government to revoke article 50. Speaking to the European parliament, Tusk reprimanded those who voiced concerns about a potential lengthy extension to article 50 in the event of the Commons rejecting the withdrawal agreement again this week. Tusk said: “Let me make one personal remark to the members of this parliament. Before the European council, I said that we should be open to a long extension if the UK wishes to rethink its Brexit strategy, which would of course mean the UK’s participation in the European parliament elections. And then there were voices saying that this would be harmful or inconvenient to some of you. Let me be clear: such thinking is unacceptable. You cannot betray the 6 million people who signed the petition to revoke article 50, the 1 million people who marched for a people’s vote, or the increasing majority of people who want to remain in the European Union.” To heckling from Ukip MEPs, Tusk went on: “They may feel that they are not sufficiently represented by the UK parliament, but they must feel that they are represented by you in this chamber. Because they are Europeans.” – Guardian Donald Tusk’s insulting message in support of the 6million who signed petition to cancel Brexit – The Sun …while Michel Barnier repeats that the Good Friday Agreement will apply in all Brexit scenarios – which means preventing a hard border The Good Friday agreement to bring peace to Northern Ireland will continue to apply in all Brexit scenarios, the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Wednesday. Respecting the Good Friday agreement meant preventing the return of a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “In all scenarios, the Good Friday agreement will continue to apply. The United Kingdom will remain a core guarantor of that agreement and is expected to uphold it in spirit and in letter,” he said. “The Commission is ready to make additional resources available to Ireland, technical and financial to address any additional challenges,” he continued. – Reuters Rebel Tories draw up shock plan to put Tom Watson and Yvette Cooper in ‘Cabinet of national unity’ aimed at forcing through ‘soft’ Brexit Rebel Tories have drawn up secret plans to offer Labour deputy leader Tom Watson a Cabinet post in a ‘national unity government’. It would be formed to force through a ‘soft Brexit’ if Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement is rejected for a third time. She would be replaced by a stand-in Conservative prime minister with Mr Watson and Labour moderates such as Yvette Cooper given Cabinet seats. They would create a coalition with the rest of the Cabinet and negotiate exit options to avoid cancelling Brexit altogether. Tories behind the plan say it would avoid the ‘nightmare’ of a general election being won by Jeremy Corbyn. Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said last night: ‘If Mrs May’s deal is rejected again we have to find a way through this crisis. The public wants us to sort it out, not to call another general election. If Parliament unites behind a “Plan B” and the Prime Minister is unable or unwilling to deliver it we have to find a solution. We have to work with sensible figures in Labour and other mainstream parties. – Daily Mail Ashley Fox: May’s deal. We will be dragged into the disaster of European Parliamentary elections if it doesn’t pass. It is now clear. Voting against the Withdrawal Agreement if it is again put to Commons will not lead to the no deal that many of its opponents want. Instead ,it will result in a soft Brexit or no Brexit at all – and see the Conservatives condemned as the party that betrayed the referendum result. Unthinkably, if the Withdrawal Agreement is put to the Commons and fails to pass, or is not put at all, and Britain has to extend Article 50 beyond the end of June, we will be forced to participate in the European Parliament elections which take place across the EU from May 23 – 26. A lengthy extension would set us adrift in uncharted legal waters, but the European Union seems to have already made up its mind where we will put ashore. Before the recent Brussels summit, an EU document was presented to the ambassadors of member countries setting out the legal context for extending Article 50. It states that if a state fails to hold elections, and the Parliament holds its first session on July 2 with that country still in the bloc, the EU institutions “cease being able to operate in a secure legal context…It follows that no extension should be granted beyond 1 July unless the European Parliament elections are held at the mandatory date,” the document adds. – Ashley Fox MEP for ConservativeHome Nick Timothy: Theresa May, the Brexit Prime Minister, has put her country ahead of herself Like the leadership campaign that made her Prime Minister, Theresa May’s premiership has been truncated, suddenly but inevitably, by forces beyond her control. She did not want to announce her departure from Downing Street in this way. She did not really want to say she was going at all. But her resignation, she only reluctantly judged, was the price worth paying to persuade Conservative MPs to back her EU Withdrawal Agreement. Many Tory Leavers are starting to accept the inevitable as they realise that, as bad as the Prime Minister’s deal is, it is the best remaining form of Brexit possible. Indeed, many now accept that voting for her deal is the only way to ensure Brexit definitely happens. And the Prime Minister’s promise to go will persuade more rebels to back down. None the less, her tactic might still fail. A core of Conservative Leavers – and about 10 Tory Remainers who support a second referendum – will still vote against her Brexit deal. – Nick Timothy for the Telegraph (£) Allister Heath: The welcome departure of Theresa May is the last chance to save Brexit Rejoice, rejoice: everything has changed. At some point over the next few weeks, after three painful, debilitating, embarrassing and above all largely wasted years, Theresa May will quit, triggering the mother of all battles for the Tory party’s soul. Her decision to step down couldn’t have come a moment too soon: the constitution is collapsing, with the Speaker and Parliament grabbing power, Brexit is being betrayed, and the economy is drifting. For a while Mrs May has been in office, not in power, at a time when the country is desperate for a fresh vision, for competent leadership, for hope: she needed to go. The decision cannot have been easy, and the implosions of all high-profile political careers are tragic, even shattering affairs, but she has made the right choice. The implications are immense. After the false dawn of 2016, when Leavers robbed themselves of the leadership, and the catastrophic lost election of 2017, the Conservative Party now faces a make or break decision. It will need to choose the right person to salvage Brexit, to repair our democracy, to save capitalism and to defeat Jeremy Corbyn’s vile, extremist Labour Party. – Allister Heath for the Telegraph (£) Tom Harris: Cancelling Brexit won’t take us back to ‘normal’ – the anti-EU genie is out of the bottle There has been much exploration of the nirvana/hellscape that awaits us if we ever actually leave the European Union. But what if we remain? Politically, what do supporters of our continued EU membership envisage if they succeed? That if we revoke Article 50, the nation will shrug its collective shoulders, roll its eyes and mutter good naturedly about “those rascally politicians, eh?” and get back to life in the status quo ante? Remember the campaign promise that a vote to Remain was also a vote for reform? This is sometimes repeated today by supporters of the Remain continuity campaign, although never with conviction, since not even they believe that could happen. But the EU is indeed reforming. It is passing more and more laws that will affect all our lives. And as with all previous EU reform, its impetus comes from the institutions’ belief that the EU is far, far more than just a trading bloc. And far, far more important than any national parliament of any member state. – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) John Redwood: Those indicative votes It was no surprise that there was no majority for any of the proposals put to the vote. That was highly likely and reminds us why Parliament works best when government proposes and Parliament approves or modifies. Three of the options I supported were not put to the vote. One was a constitutional proposal to avoid this kind of Parliamentary chaos. The second was a set of proposals to ensure just leaving takes place with a range of sensible agreements on things that need agreement. The third was a general proposal which had plenty of names on it to reaffirm Parliamentary support for leaving the EU, designed to get majority agreement by reminding most MPs they were elected to get us out. Nor was there any ability to vote for the comprehensive free trade proposal I and others have been putting to the government. One of the problems with not putting some first choice preferences to the first vote is it leaves MPs feeling unhappy that even their first vote had to be a compromise with what they really want. – John Redwood’s Diary Ross Clark: The EU’s mindless new diktats on clocks, cars and copyright show why we have to leave If the EU had been deliberately trying to remind 17 million Britons of why they voted three years ago to leave the EU it could not have done better, in the week when MPs may finally decide a form of Brexit they can agree on, than to approve three pieces of overbearing legislation. Regulations will require, from 2022, all new models of car to be installed with speed-limiters and devices to identify drunk or sleepy drivers. Daylight saving will be abolished from 2021, with all EU nations having to decide whether they want to stay on summer time or winter time. On top of that the EU Parliament voted to rubber-stamp a new copyright directive which will introduce a tax on internet links, interfering with how it has operated for the past two decades. We can all argue over the merits of the rules themselves. There are plenty of people, for example, who think changing the clocks twice a year is a ridiculous business. Personally, I am much in favour of fitting speed-limiters to cars, which would force vehicles to slow down when they entered a zone covered by a speed limit. After all, driverless cars would have to be fitted with such technology. When it comes to the copyright directive, it would be churlish not to note that the UK has been a keen supporter of the legislation and a version of it would most likely have been adopted by us whatever happens after Brexit. – Ross Clark for the Telegraph (£) Brexit in Brief SNP’s Joanna Cherry appears to mouth ‘f****** Labour’ in reaction to Brexit vote – Mirror BMW ‘interested in taking over Honda’s Swindon site’ amidst Brexit uncertainty – Guardian