“Proud of yourselves?” asked the Daily Mail. “Bruising defeat for May in Commons” splashes the i.
Newspapers in the UK have reacted to the government’s defeat in the House of Commons over parliament’s right to have a meaningful vote on the European Union withdrawal bill.
Only last week, the Daily Mail urged its readers to “rejoice” at the first stage Brexit deal between the EU and the British government. However, now that Brexit is threatened again, it has questioned whether the Tory rebels were “proud of themselves?”
DAILY MAIL: Proud of Yourselves? #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/sQ3o6P1kNZ
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 13, 2017
One Tory rebel certainly was. MP Sarah Wollaston tweeted: “Yes. Proud to #TakeBackControl for our Parliament, where there is no majority for a chaotic no-deal Brexit” in response to the front page.
Yes. Proud to #TakeBackControl for our Parliament, where there is no majority for a chaotic no-deal Brexit. https://t.co/CP6G8KdxY5
— Sarah Wollaston (@sarahwollaston) December 13, 2017
Anna Soubry fought back even harder, and wrote: “Yes. We put our country first exerting British principles of democracy and free speech. You should try it sometime.”
Tory MP Antoinette Sandbach did not respond directly, but retweeted a post by BBC journalist Julia Macfarlane, who wrote “the tone of this is akin to placing a large ‘wanted’ poster on their front page. Only last year an MP was murdered for her beliefs by a deranged extremist. Whipping up hatred in this way is dangerous and has consequences.”
I would add the tone of this is akin to placing a large “wanted” poster on their front page. Only last year an MP was murdered for her beliefs by a deranged extremist. Whipping up hatred in this way is dangerous and has consequences.
— Julia Merryfarlane 🎄 (@juliamacfarlane) December 13, 2017
The i concentrated on the effect the vote might have on the Brexit summit later this week, and condemned the high drama as a “bruising defeat for May”.
Thursday's i: "Bruising defeat for May in Commons" #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers (via @hendopolis) pic.twitter.com/0EmvqYXcnI
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 13, 2017
In November, many of the Conservative MPs who led the rebellion were branded mutineers by the Daily Telegraph. On Thursday, the newspaper continued that theme as it proclaimed a “mutiny in the Commons”.
TELEGRAPH: Mutiny in the Commons blows up storm for May’s Brexit talks #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/cCqe9nyZNf
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 13, 2017
The Daily Express did not make the vote their main story, but still found space to slam the rebellion as “outrageous”, and warned of “Brexit chaos” to come.
Thursday's Daily Express: "Millions face pension crisis" #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers (via @hendopolis) pic.twitter.com/79Kohe4EmL
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 13, 2017
The Scotsman described the Commons defeat as a “galling loss” for the government.
THE SCOTSMAN: May suffers galling loss #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/K3J0wxo2bq
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 13, 2017
The National used a Star Wars theme to illustrate the British government’s Brexit defeat. “Tories defeated by rebel alliance,” read the front page.
Tomorrow's front page: Tories are defeated by the Rebel Alliance as MPs join together to force vote on Brexit bill #TheLastJedi pic.twitter.com/MLuyVf0lcT
— The National (@ScotNational) December 13, 2017
The Guardian struck a similar tone to the i, with “Tory rebellion humiliates PM on Brexit bill”.
Thursday's Guardian: "Tory rebellion humiliates PM on Brexit bill" #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers (via @hendopolis) pic.twitter.com/zA4uZ9Qub6
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 13, 2017
• This article was amended on 14 December 2017. An earlier version misspelled Julia Macfarlane’s surname as her Christmas-themed Twitter display name, Merryfarlane.
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