Brexit chaos continues as lawmakers meet to decide on no-deal option

The war of words over Brexit continued in Britain Wednesday as MPs prepared another marathon debate on whether to rule out leaving the European Union without a deal.

Prime Minister Theresa May promised a 'no-deal' option if her own Brexit deal failed to win in the House of Commons. Her crushing defeat dominated the front pages of London's national newspapers Wednesday, and was also headline news across mainland Europe.

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Wednesday: "Under the law, the UK must leave the EU on March 29. That is the law, and the vote tonight is really symbolic."

"It's crazy to disable yourself as you go into a negotiation, it makes no sense at all. Why would we shoot ourselves in the foot like that?" he commented.

Depending on Wednesday's vote, MPs will have the opportunity Thursday of voting on whether to seek a delay to Britain's scheduled March 29 departure date. A delay would need approval from the other 27 EU member states.

The mood in Britain was captured in an editorial in the Independent, which said the issue has proved so divisive, so difficult and so costly that it has jammed the usually smooth machinery of British political life.

"It has split (political) parties; it has made enemies of friends; it has undermined businesses and destroyed jobs; it has rent families asunder; it has made hard-working Europeans in Britain feel unwelcome," it said.

"The constitutional status of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Gibraltar are in jeopardy. All to no avail. The costs of Brexit, the tacit conclusion must be, aren't worth it, at least on the terms agreed between the prime minister and the European Union. Hence the defeats," it added.

Politician Angela Smith, one of the 11 politicians who have joined the Independent Group of MPs at Westminster, said Britain was facing a dismal failure of leadership from the main parties, adding there should be a people's vote to decide the issue.

Conservative MP Bob Stewart said in a radio interview Wednesday that prime minister May should leave office as soon as possible.

Behind the scenes, Conservative party managers were involved in talks about the way voting will be managed this evening, with media reports speculating ministerial resignations unless they were free to vote their own way on amendments to the no-deal option.

Meanwhile, pro-leave and remain supporting newspapers were united in their reporting of May's latest defeat in the House of Commons.

May woke up at 10 Downing Street to headlines such as "Brexit Delay Mayhem" in the Daily Mirror, saying the prime minister had surrendered after another massive defeat leaving the nation facing months of chaos.

The House of Fools, beamed from the front page of the Daily Mail, saying MPs had vowed to deliver the Brexit Britain had voted for, and had it in their grasp. But last night, the Daily Mail said, "contemptuous MPs chose instead to plunge a despairing nation into chaos".

The Times said on its front page that May may face resignation calls, while Daily Telegraph said May was clinging on despite a second humiliating defeat, a reference to her deal being rejected by an even bigger margin in January.