A no-deal Brexit is now more likely but can still be avoided, the EU’s chief negotiator has said.
Michel Barnier said a long extension to the UK’s current 12 April exit date carried “significant risks for the EU” and that a “strong justification would be needed” before the EU would agree.
On Monday night, MPs voted on four alternatives to the PM’s withdrawal deal, but none gained a majority.
Theresa May is set for five hours of cabinet talks to tackle the deadlock.
BBC deputy political editor John Pienaar said the cabinet was “irreconcilably split” and “almost any outcome is inconceivable”, with one camp preferring no deal, the other a “softer” Brexit.
In the Commons votes on Monday, MPs rejected a customs union with the EU by three votes while a motion for another referendum got the most votes in favour, but still lost.
The so-called indicative votes were not legally binding, but they had been billed as the moment when Parliament might finally compromise.
That did not happen, however, and one Tory MP – Nick Boles, who was behind one of the proposals – resigned the whip in frustration.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told MPs that if they wanted to secure a further delay from the EU, the government must be able to put forward a “credible proposition” as to what it would do.
One suggestion has been the possibility of a general election – but former foreign secretary Boris Johnson told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg that would likely “infuriate” voters. -BBC