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What time is the Brexit vote? UK’s most Googled questions answered

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What time is the Brexit vote? UK’s most Googled questions answered
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What time is the Brexit vote? UK’s most Googled questions answered

2019-01-16 10:44 Last Updated At:10:44

Here are the answers Britons have been searching for in the build-up to the key vote in Parliament.

As MPs debate Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement ahead of a vote in Parliament, the British public has been looking for answers online.

Here are the most-Googled questions ahead of the crucial vote on Tuesday evening.

1. What time is the Brexit vote?

Theresa May will wrap up five days of debate on her Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons with a concluding statement at the Despatch Box at around 6.30pm.

Voting is likely to begin at 7pm, starting with four amendments and culminating in the meaningful vote itself.

The process of voting on each amendment takes around 15 minutes, so the final result is expected around 8.15-8.30pm.

2. What is the backstop?

The backstop arrangement outlined in the Prime Minister’s deal would create a single EU-UK customs area to ensure there is no hard border on the island of Ireland.

This means the UK would continue to follow the EU’s tariffs and rules on customs, avoiding the need for checks between the EU and UK – including Northern Ireland and the Republic – until a new relationship is decided.

Northern Ireland would need to follow some of the EU’s single market rules, including laws on goods, agricultural production, veterinary controls and state aid rules.

It is this point that has led many – including Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party and a number of Conservative backbenchers – to oppose the deal.

3. What are the Brexit amendments?

MPs proposed 13 amendments to the Prime Minister’s deal over the course of the debate and Speaker John Bercow revealed four will be put to the vote on Tuesday evening.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s amendment, backed by his front bench, dismisses Mrs May’s deal outright, instead calling on the Government to “pursue every option” to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal. The Lib Dems added their own amendment to Mr Corbyn’s proposal, naming a second referendum as one of the options, but this was not selected for debate by the Speaker.

An amendment from the SNP leader in the Commons, Ian Blackford, calls on the UK Government to “respect the will” of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly by scrapping the Brexit deal as it is “damaging for Scotland, Wales and the nations and regions of the UK as a whole”. Instead it demands an extension to Article 50 to give the UK more time to agree a course of action.

Senior Tory Brexiter Sir Edward Leigh’s amendment says the Government should tear up the Withdrawal Agreement if the EU does not agree to end the backstop by the end of 2021.

The final amendment, tabled by Conservative Leaver John Baron, will only be debated if the Leigh proposals fail. It seeks to give the UK power to terminate the backstop without permission from the EU.

4. What is Theresa May’s Brexit deal?

The 585-page Withdrawal Agreement text will provide the basis of a legally binding treaty. It covers the future rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, the £39 billion the UK owes in promised contributions, and protocols on Gibraltar and UK sovereign base areas in Cyprus.

It also provides for a transition period after the UK leaves the EU in March, running to the end of 2020, with the option of a one-off extension if more time is needed to conclude an agreement on the future relationship.

Crucially it also covers the backstop, intended to ensure there is no return to the hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic if negotiations on the future relationship have not been completed.

5. How will my MP vote on the Brexit deal?

Every MP from the SNP, Lib Dems, DUP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party is expected to vote against the deal, as well as most Labour MPs. Labour members who have indicated they will vote with the Government include Kevin Barron, Jim Fitzpatrick and John Mann.

Former Labour minister Frank Field and ex-Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd, both sitting as independents, have said they will back the deal.

At least 81 Conservative MPs have recently said publicly that they plan to vote against the deal and some estimates put total rebel numbers as high as 113, pushing the total potential vote against the deal beyond the 400 mark.

With 650 MPs in the Commons – of whom the Speaker, his deputies and the seven Sinn Fein MPs do not cast a vote – this puts Mrs May’s possible tally at around 240-250, low enough to break historic records for the worst Government defeat of modern times.

The PM and her whips have been working through the day to bring that number down and it is always possible that critics of the deal will have a last-minute change of mind.

6. What is happening with Brexit?

After more than a year of negotiations, Mrs May presented her EU Withdrawal Bill to Parliament in November but it was immediately dismissed by hard Brexiteers within her own party, leading to a string of Cabinet resignations.

Hours before Parliament was due to vote on the deal in December, sensing a heavy defeat, the PM delayed the vote and returned to Brussels to seek reassurances about its implications.

After surviving a vote of no-confidence from her own party, Mrs May pushed the vote back to January 15 but she is still expected to lose heavily.

7. How many days until Brexit?

As of Tuesday January 15, there are 73 days to go until Britain is due to leave the EU, on March 29.

8. Is the UK stockpiling food for Brexit?

Some businesses and families have said they are stockpiling food as a precaution for a no-deal scenario in which it takes a lot longer for cargo to come through customs at the UK border.

Tesco and Marks & Spencer, as well as companies like Premier Foods – which owns Bisto, Mr Kipling and Majestic Wine – have announced plans for stockpiling.

Quick-thinking entrepreneurs are selling so-called Brexit survival kits of freeze-dried food for hundreds of pounds, although a Government spokesman said there was “no need” to stockpile items in the box, according to the BBC.

In December, official documents showed the Government was drawing up plans to avoid food shortages in hospitals, although the full extent of Government plans are not known.

9. How many people voted for Brexit?

A little over 17.4 million people voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum, compared with just over 16.1 million who voted to remain.

Turnout was 33.6 million, meaning 52% of those taking part voted to leave.

10. What happens if there is a no-deal Brexit?

A no-deal situation arises if the UK quits the EU without an agreement covering issues like the Irish border, expats’ rights in Europe, a future trade deal or customs and border checks.

Predictions about the seriousness of leaving the EU without a deal vary, but separate assessments from Whitehall and the Bank of England in November painted a grim picture of the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the UK economy.

The Bank warned Britain could be tipped into a recession worse than the financial crash, with an 8% cut in GDP, unemployment surging by as much as 7.5% and house prices falling by almost a third.

A cross-Government analysis found the UK economy would be 9.3% smaller after 15 years if Britain leaves without a deal.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar ’s Parliament on Monday began the process of electing the country’s next president, which will mark a nominal return to an elected government after five years of military rule, but is widely considered to be an effort to keep power in the hands of the army.

The process began the same day that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military-led government, announced that he was relinquishing his concurrent post of the military's commander-in-chief. The move is a prerequisite for becoming head of state, because the Constitution prohibits the president from simultaneously holding the top military position.

Min Aung Hlaing will be among three nominees to contend for the president’s post, but is virtually certain to get the job as lawmakers from military-backed parties and appointed members from the military hold a commanding majority in Parliament.

Here’s what to know about the nominal transition to elected democracy:

The Lower House, the Upper House and the military bloc — which by appointment holds a quarter of the seats in the legislature — can each propose a nominee, formally for vice president. Min Aung Hlaing was one of two put forward by the Lower House, while the Upper House offered up two relatively unknown candidates, and the military did not announce their choices.

Once each group settles on a single nominee and their credentials are verified by a review committee, the 586-member legislature will vote; the candidate with the highest number of votes will become president, while the other two will serve as vice presidents.

Although the exact timing of the vote remains unclear, the vote could come as early as Thursday.

Parliament’s members were elected in three phases of voting held in December and January. Opponents of military rule charged that the polls were unfair, designed to legitimize military rule after ousting Aung San Suu Kyi ’s elected government in February 2021.

Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 until 2016, when Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory. It won an even greater mandate in the 2020 general election, but the army seized power before the new Parliament could convene.

Peaceful protests against military rule were put down with deadly force, and pro-democracy activists turned to armed resistance, allying themselves with ethnic minority groups who have long been fighting for greater autonomy.

Much of the country is now enmeshed in a brutal civil war, and security concerns meant voting in the recent election could be held in only 263 of the country’s 330 townships.

Min Aung Hlaing had led Myanmar’s military since 2011, retaining broad political powers as well under the 2008 military-drafted constitution. His profile rose internationally after a 2017 campaign of repression against the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority, which drove hundreds of thousands into Bangladesh for refuge amid alleged atrocities.

State-run MRTV television reported that the 69-year-old Min Aung Hlaing transferred command of the military on Monday to his close aide, Gen. Ye Win Oo, in a ceremony in the capital, Naypyitaw.

Ye Win Oo, 60, previously served as secretary of the ruling State Administration Council and the State Security and Peace Commission, established after the army takeover.

Major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi's former ruling National League for Democracy, were either blocked from running in the recent election or refused to compete under conditions they deemed unfair.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader, is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party was forced to dissolve in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.

In this photo provided by Myanmar Military True News Information Team, newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Gen. Ye Win Oo speaks during a ceremony Monday, March 30, 2026, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)

In this photo provided by Myanmar Military True News Information Team, newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Gen. Ye Win Oo speaks during a ceremony Monday, March 30, 2026, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)

Myanmar lawmakers arrive to attend a session at Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar lawmakers arrive to attend a session at Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar lawmakers attend a session at Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar lawmakers attend a session at Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar lawmakers attend a session at Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar lawmakers attend a session at Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar's Lower House Speaker Khin Yi arrives to attend a session at the Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar's Lower House Speaker Khin Yi arrives to attend a session at the Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

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