Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called Theresa May’s administration a “zombie government” that “cannot govern” as he called for a general election.
Opening a debate on a no-confidence motion, Mr Corbyn said the government “should do the right thing and resign” after Tuesday night’s record-breaking defeat on its Brexit legislation.
Read: Pound rises after ‘meaningful’ Brexit vote
The prime minister said an election was “simply not in the national interest”.
The no-confidence vote is expected to be held at about 19:00 GMT.
Mr Corbyn’s motion is backed by MPs from the SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and Green Party.
Read: UK readies for historic Brexit deal vote
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.
Mr 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 an “historic and humiliating defeat”.
How did Theresa May respond?
Read: Brexit: MPs to resume debate on PM’s plan
Mrs 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,” Mrs May said.
What do other MPs think?
Tory MP for Croydon South, Chris Philip, accused Mr Corbyn of “shameless political opportunism”, which put “party interests ahead of national interests”.
James Morris, Tory MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, said the motion was “merely a tactical device by the opposition to cause chaos”.
And Conservative ex-minister Anna Soubry, who wants Mr Corbyn to back another EU referendum, questioned why her party were six points ahead of Labour in a weekend opinion poll, adding: “Could it be because he’s the most hopeless Leader of the Opposition that we’ve ever had?”
But other MPs backed Mr Corbyn, with Labour’s Stephen Doughty saying his leader was “absolutely right” to call for a general election “because it is not just the government’s record on Brexit which is at stake tonight”.
Labour frontbencher Liam Byrne, MP for Birmingham, Hodge Hill, accused Mrs May of building “a cage of red lines” over Brexit.
“We rejected the deal because we rejected the cage,” he said. “If she is not prepared to change, how on earth can we in this House continue to place a shred of confidence in her?”
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford accused the government of “seeking to run down the clock” over Brexit and warned that the UK could “crash out” of the EU with no deal.
“The risk of a no deal is something that is unthinkable,” he said. “If the government and the prime minister want to drive the bus over the cliff, we will not be in the passenger seat.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said 48% of the population who voted to remain in the EU had been “totally disregarded” by the government and Mrs May had an “unwillingness to listen”.
He said a general election provided “another route and a welcome one” that could resolve the issue, and he also called for a “people’s vote”.
DUP Westminster Leader Nigel Dodds said his party will be supporting the government in the vote, as it was in the “national interest”.
But, he said, the backstop in Mrs May’s Brexit deal had been “fatal” and “that needs to be dealt with”.
Source: bbc