Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal was rejected for a second time in the House of Commons last night, but how did our two MPs vote?
The deal, which set out the terms of how the UK would leave the EU on March 29, was rejected by 149 votes – a smaller margin than when it was rejected in January.
There were 391 votes against the deal, with South Cambs MP Heidi Allen – who quit the Conservative Party last month to join the new Independent Group – among them.
“I voted against the deal for the same reason that I voted last time,” Ms Allen told the Crow.
She went on to say that she believes the Prime Minister’s deal was pandering to the DUP, while also tweeting: “This is not a ‘deal’, it is a blank piece of paper with no guarantee for our country’s economic future. I cannot support it. My constituents demand better.”
Ms Allen also confirmed that she would be voting later today to stop a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.
“Leaving the EU on March 29 with no deal in place would be utterly catastrophic for our country,” she wrote on her website.
“I and the vast majority of MPs would not support such an outcome. Indeed we have already expressed our views on this on January 29 when 318 MPs voted in favour of Caroline Spelman’s amendment against a ‘no deal’.
“I can also confidently and categorically confirm that the vast majority of my constituents do not want ‘no deal’ either.
“If we have no formal deal on the 29th of March, or we have not revoked or extended article 50, there will be no transition period.
“That means on the 30th of March we will have no security arrangements, no travel or visa systems, full third country tariffs, no medicine recognition, goods and medical supplies will not flow and there will be hard border installed in Ireland.
“A no deal would be utterly catastrophic for the UK.”
North East Herts MP Sir Oliver Heald voted for the Prime Minister’s deal.
The Crow has not yet been able to reach the Conservative MP for comment, but speaking after the first meaningful vote in January – in which he also voted in favour of Theresa May’s deal – he said: “I voted with the government. It’s very important to our area to have an agreed Brexit process, and big local employers are contacting me saying ‘we must have a deal’.”
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