Newspapers react to May's Commons defeat by Tory Brexit rebels

“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?”

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.

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 Merryfarlane, 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.”