Vote of no confidence tabled following May's Brexit defeat

Theresa May has suffered the heaviest parliamentary defeat of any British prime minister in the democratic era after British MPs rejected her Brexit deal by a massive 230 votes.

Labour leader Jeremy Corban seized the opportunity to table a vote of no confidence in the government

“This is a catastrophic defeat. The house has delivered its verdict on her deal. Delay and denial has reached the end of the line,” The Guardian quoted him saying.

The defeat followed a last-ditch plea from Ms May for legislators to give the deal a "second look" following two years of political upheaval.

With just 10 weeks to go before Britain leaves the EU on March 29, 202 MPs voted in favour of Ms May's deal, with 432 opposing it, leaving the process in confusion.

The prime minister had delayed the vote before Christmas in the vain hope of winning over waverers.

But the deal faced widespread opposition, mainly because of efforts to prevent the reintroduction of border controls between Northern Island and the Republic of Ireland which pro-Brexit lawmakers said would leave Britain bound indefinitely to EU rules.  Pro-EU politicians on the other hand want an even closer relationship with the bloc.

Britain voted by 52 per cent to 48 per cent in 2016 in favour of leaving the EU, but the UK remains divided on what the future should be.

Parliament has given Ms May until Tuesday NZT to come up with a new proposal. So far, she has refused publicly to speculate on a possible "Plan B."

Some Conservatives expect her to seek further talks with EU leaders on changes before bringing a tweaked version of the bill back to Parliament. EU leaders insist the deal can't be re-negotiated.

The prime minister said the vote had not revealed what kind of deal MPs would be willing to support so if she won the vote of no confidence she would open talks with the DUP and “senior parliamentarians from across the house to identify what will be required to secure support”.

She is now likely to come under intense pressure to cede control of the next steps in the Brexit process to parliament, The Guardian reported.