British Parliament votes against delaying Brexit

London  :  British MPs have voted against a proposal to delay Brexit in order to prevent the UK leaving without a deal.

The amendment had been put forward by Labour MP Yvette Cooper, but was rejected by 23 votes, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

The MPs were voting on changes to Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan before she seeks a re-negotiation of it with the EU.

The Prime Minister has urged MPs to back another amendment that would propose "alternative arrangements" to the controversial Irish backstop plan.

The backstop is is the insurance policy in May's plan to prevent checks on goods and people returning to the Northern Ireland border, which some MPs fear could leave the UK tied to the EU's rules indefinitely.

It was a key part in seeing her original Brexit deal voted down in Parliament by an historic margin earlier in January.

May said she knew there was a "limited appetite" in the EU for changes to the deal, but she believed she could "secure" it.

She had phone calls with key EU leaders throughout the day ahead of the Commons votes and has already spoken to the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar.

But the EU has said it will not re-open negotiations and change the legal text agreed with the British PM.

The MPs were voting on an amendment put forward by Tory MP Caroline Spelman and Labour MP Jack Dromey with the aim of preventing a no deal Brexit