Following the defeat of the Conservative government on the second meaningful vote on the UK’s departure from the EU, S&D Group president Udo Bullmann, and S&D Group spokesperson on Brexit Roberto Gualtieri said:

 

“It's the second time in less than two months that Theresa May’s Brexit strategy fails. After the government was defeated by a historic margin in January, we urged May to work with Labour and other political parties to form a stable majority. Instead, she attempted to appease the Tory Brexiters, a strategy that backfired spectacularly tonight. This is the end of the road. May has no option now but to work seriously with Labour for a closer EU-UK relationship or she must let the British people decide by calling new elections or a referendum.

 

“Even if we have lost faith in the UK government, we still trust UK Parliamentarians to tomorrow reject a no-deal Brexit that would be catastrophic for the UK, and then ask for an extension to Article 50. Our question is not how long this should last but for what purpose? There has been too much short-term thinking in the last few months. The important question is, once the UK parliament takes no-deal off the table, can MPs take back control and take a clear decision on the only two positive options: either change the government red lines or give the people a chance to say no to Brexit.”