UK Withdrawal from the EU — Delay Withdrawal to Enable a Further Referendum on Withdrawal to be Held — 14 Mar 2019 at 17:00

The majority of MPs voted not to delay the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union for a time sufficient to enable a further referendum on the withdrawal to be held, but voted in favour of a delay to pass necessary exit legislation if a withdrawal agreement was agreed.

MPs were considering a motion stating:

• That this House:
• (1) notes the resolutions of the House of 12 and 13 March, and accordingly agrees that the Government will seek to agree with the European Union an extension of the period specified in Article 50(3);
• (2) agrees that, if the House has passed a resolution approving the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship for the purposes of section 13(1)(b) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 by 20 March 2019, then the Government will seek to agree with the European Union a one-off extension of the period specified in Article 50(3) for a period ending on 30 June 2019 for the purpose of passing the necessary EU exit legislation; and
• (3) notes that, if the House has not passed a resolution approving the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship for the purposes of section 13(1)(b) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 by 20 March 2019, then it is highly likely that the European Council at its meeting the following day would require a clear purpose for any extension, not least to determine its length, and that any extension beyond 30 June 2019 would require the United Kingdom to hold European Parliament elections in May 2019.

The amendment rejected in this vote was:

• to leave out from first “House” to end and add
• “instructs the Prime Minister to request an extension to the Article 50 period at the European Council in March 2019 sufficient for the purposes of legislating for and conducting a public vote in which the people of the United Kingdom may give their consent for either leaving the European Union on terms to be determined by Parliament or retaining the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union.”

The exit day had been set as 29 March 2019 at 11.00 p.m. by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018^[1].

• [1] Section 20, European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, Legislation.gov.uk

Debate in Parliament |