Theresa May survives no confidence after Brexit defeat

Theresa May will stagger on as Prime Minister after her government won a confidence vote, but the path forward for Brexit remains unclear.

May's government won by 325 to 306.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the no-confidence motion, said the PM's "zombie" administration had lost the right to govern, and they "should do the right thing and resign".

But May said a general election was simply not "in the national interest". It comes 24 hours after MPs voted down the PM's Brexit plans by a huge margin. Corbyn's motion is backed by MPs from the SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, and Green Party.

But senior Labour figures accept it is not likely to succeed, as she has the backing of Tory rebels and the DUP's 10 MPs, who less than 24 hours ago helped inflict a humiliating defeat on her.

Labour says further no-confidence votes could follow if this one fails.

Corbyn told MPs: "The prime minister has consistently claimed that her deal, which has been decisively rejected, was good for Britain workers and business… she should have nothing to fear by going to the people."

He added that 2011's Fixed-term Parliaments Act "was never intended to prop up a zombie government", saying that the prime minister had "lost control" and suffered a "historic and humiliating defeat".

May told MPs it was Parliament that decided to put the question of European Union membership to the people, "and now Parliament must finish the job".

She said extending Article 50, the legal mechanism taking the UK out of the EU on 29 March, to allow time for an election would mean "delaying Brexit for who knows how long".

She repeated her offer of cross-party talks to find a way forward on Brexit but has not so far invited the Labour leader to take part in them.

A general election would "deepen divisions when we need unity, it would bring chaos when we need certainty," May said.