PRIME Minister Theresa May has suffered a second historic defeat for her Brexit deal, barely two weeks before Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29.

MPs in parliament rejected the deal again tonight by a wide margin of 391 to 242 votes, plunging the Brexit process into cliff-edge uncertainty.

Robert Buckland, MP for South Swindon, told the Advertiser: “We had a way to end the uncertainty and that was by voting for the deal. Parliament has continued to fail to face up to the realities by passing the deal and enacting a sensible Brexit process. Time is running out and so is patience.”

Justin Tomlinson, MP for North Swindon, said: "The public and businesses were clear they wanted a deal. This would have delivered Brexit, ended uncertainty and allowed every to move on.

"Regrettably MPs from both sides of the debate joined the opposition parties to defeat the deal.

"I will do all I can to support a sensible, pragmatic and orderly Brexit."

Sarah Church, Labour parliamentary candidate for South Swindon, said: “The Prime Minister’s deal is dead. Parliament must now speak, and be heard, on what should happen next. There is so little time but leaving without an agreement in place would be unconscionable even for this irresponsible government.

“Parliament must reject no-deal, must be allowed to vote on acceptable options such as a customs union, or must decided to bring this back to the people of this country to have the final say.”

Matt Griffith, director of policy at Business West, which supports hundreds of businesses in Swindon and the south west, warned about the damage the uncertainty is already causing.

He told the Adver: “MPs seem to be living in a world of their own playing political games. This is doing substantial damage to quite a few exporters relationships. It is happening now and there’s quite a real risk it will be lasting. Parliament needs to get its act together.

“I’m talking to companies losing European customers and they’re losing international investment. We’ve had customers losing it from China, India and America, because of the uncertainty.

“The prospect of a no-deal would be a really significant shock. I find it hard to believe that this is being seriously contemplated by a large number of MPs.

“We had BMW say last week that they would consider moving production out of the UK. That alone would be a really big hit and unwelcome hit to the Swindon economy.”

After the defeat MPs will vote today on whether to go ahead with a no-deal Brexit, followed by a second vote on whether to extend Article 50 and delay Brexit.

So far only a handful of MPs have shown strong support for leaving without a deal, but if no deal is rejected and MPs decide to back the extension it would need the agreement of the remaining 27 EU states.