A no confidence vote that could oust Theresa May will be held tomorrow after Jeremy Corbyn launched his attack on the Government seconds after the Brexit deal was crushed.
In a surprise move, the Prime Minister seized on the defeat to admit she would face a no confidence vote before Mr Corbyn even had a chance to announce his plan.
As he finally made his move the Labour leader said it was a ‘catastrophic’ defeat for the Government and confirmed he would seek to oust Mrs May tomorrow.
And his spokesman suggested that if Labour lose tomorrow’s vote they could table another no confidence vote in future weeks.
In a defiant statement moments after Mrs May was defeated 432 to 202, Mr Corbyn said he had tabled the crucial motion.
The move triggers a high-stakes contest that, if he wins, could send Mrs May tumbling from office and pave the way for a general election.
But Mrs May looks set to cling on tomorrow after the DUP and her hardline Brexiteers confirmed they would vote for her – despite pulling their support tonight.
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured leaving his London home today) is hoping to seize on the chaos of the PM’s deal being voted down to table a no confidence motion and try to topple Mrs May
Theresa May (pictured in the Commons tonight after her crushing defeat) will face a fresh attack tomorrow a Labour try to topple her from power
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured leaving Parliament tonight) move the Labour leader said it was a ‘catastrophic’ defeat for the Government and confirmed he would seek to oust Mrs May tomorrow
Labour MPs upped the pressure on Mr Corbyn to table the confidence motion after he U-turned on his threats to hold one last month.
Backbencher Gavin Shuker said failure to force a vote would be an ‘abdication of leadership’ and prove that the Labour leader is just trying to dodge backing a second Brexit referendum.
Mr Shuker said: ‘A failure to table a no confidence motion would be a huge betrayal tonight.
‘An abdication of leadership; the act of someone trying dodge a People’s Vote and run down the clock.’
And speaking after the dramatic scenes in the Commons tonight, the PM’s spokesman said: ‘Motions of no confidence can happen more than once.’
Labour want to oust Mrs May, force a general election, seize power and take control of the Brexit talks.
They insist that a Labour government would do a better job in the talks than the PM.
But Labour are deeply divided on Brexit – with many Remainer MPs clamouring for a second referendum while voters in the Labour heartlands overwhelmingly backed Brexit.
Mr Corbyn is under huge pressure from his backbenchers to back a second referendum, dubbed a ‘People’s Vote’.
But he has tried to dodge these demands by saying that he will push for another election but after that all options are on the table.
And today his spokesman suggested that they could repeatedly try to delay the moment of truth when they will have to decide whether or not to back another referendum by tabling more than one no confidence vote.
Mrs May lost the crucial vote on her Brexit deal by a staggering 230 votes tonight – the biggest defeat inflicted on a PM in over 100 years.
The previous largest was 166 by the minority Labour government in 1924.
She is now desperately scrambling to try to drum up support from Labour moderates for another tweaked version of her Brexit deal.
If she survives tomorrow’s confidence vote to cling on as PM, then she will hold a series of meetings with MPs across the House to try to find a way forward.
But only three Labour MPs defied their party to vote with the PM on her Brexit plan tonight – John Mann, Ian Austin and Kevin Barron.
Seizing on the PM’s defeat to try to push his new bid for power, Mr Corbyn told the Commons tonight: ‘The result of tonight’s vote is the greatest defeat for a Government since the 1920s in this House. This is a catastrophic defeat for this Government.
‘After two years of failed negotiations the House of Commons has delivered its verdict on her Brexit deal and that verdict is absolutely decisive.
‘I hear the words of the Prime Minister but the actions of the past two years speak equally clearly.’
He added: ‘The most important issue facing us is that the Government has lost the confidence of this House and this country.
‘I therefore inform you I have now tabled a motion of no confidence in this Government.’
DUP leader Arlene Foster had some solace for Mrs May today as she confirmed that the confidence and supply deal with the Tories – which props them up in power – still holds.
The commitment means there should be little chance of Labour winning a vote.
Under Commons rules, the government must allow time for a no-confidence vote when the official Opposition asks for one.
Mr Corbyn had accused the Prime Minister of trying to ‘blackmail’ Labour MPs into supporting her Brexit deal.
He said: ‘At every turn the Prime Minister has closed the door on dialogue.
‘Businesses begged her to negotiate a comprehensive customs union, trade union leaders pressed her for the same thing. They were ignored.
‘In the last two years, she has only had one priority: the Conservative Party.
‘Her governing principle of delay and denial has reached the end of the line.
‘She cannot seriously believe that after two years of failure, she is capable of negotiating a good deal for the people of this country.
‘On the most important issue facing us, this government has lost the confidence of this House and this country.’
If the no-confidence motion passes – and a new government with the support of a majority of MPs cannot be formed within a fortnight – Parliament will be dissolved and an early election called.
However, Mr Corbyn is unlikely to succeed as the Democratic Unionist Party and hardline Tory Eurosceptics have pledged they would not side with Labour.
It came as a poll showed Labour falling six points behind the Conservatives despite the Brexit chaos engulfing Mrs May’s party.
In the YouGov poll for the Times Mr Corbyn’s party plunged to 35 per cent, its lowest rating since mid December, while the Tories score 41 per cent.
Mr Corbyn is believed to have held off on challenging the Government amid fears that failure to trigger a general election could lead to a second referendum.
Under Labour’s Brexit plans, decided at its conference in September, the party’s policy is to seek a general election first. If the party cannot secure one, Labour has promised to look at all options – including another referendum.
Polling suggests that a large majority of Labour members want Mr Corbyn to actively back a so-called People’s Vote – but this would prompt a backlash from his pro-Brexit voters in the party’s Northern heartlands.
He said Mrs May had failed to persuade his MPs, declaring: ‘The Labour Party will not be held to ransom.’
There were noisy protests outside of Parliament tonight as MPs inflicted the historic defeat on Mrs May
Later, addressing the Parliamentary Labour Party on the eve of today’s crucial vote, Mr Corbyn predicted that Mrs May’s deal would be defeated – and said the country should have a general election.
‘The Tory Party’s botched deal will be rejected by Parliament,’ he said. ‘We will then need an election to have the chance to vote for a government that can bring our people together and address the deep-seated issues facing our country.’
Aides said Labour expected a no-confidence motion to be treated as a top priority for debating time in the Commons. They said the timing was a matter for Mr Corbyn.
A source stressed that a second referendum is only one of a number of options on the table for Labour, alongside seeking a different Brexit deal in line with the party’s own priorities.