The prime minister of the United Kingdom suffered a defeat with 432 against and 202 in support of the motion on the proposed terms for the exit of Britain from the EU.
Negotiation between Britain and the EU for an exit has been going on for two years without conclusion being reached.
Little attention has been paid to the reasons why Britain was not a founding member of European community which has been transformed into the EU. When Britain lost most of its colonies in the sixties, it had to join the European Community in order to avoid competition with other European states. Having achieved this purpose, agitation for and against membership to the EU intensified leading to a referendum. Uncertainty gripped the UK as those who are fully conscious that European integration saved Europe from a Third World War battled with those who criticise the EU as a threat to national security. What is to come next?