Parliament has voted down every single option for leaving the EU - including both prime minister Theresa May's deal and leaving without a deal.

The House of Commons also voted against revoking Article 50 and holding another referendum. So what could be next?

Well, according to some the only option left is to hold a general alection

The government appears to be without a strategy beyond bringing back the prime minister's withdrawal agreement and hoping that this time enough MPs support it, reports Perspecs.

It has been put to a vote in the Commons three times without success. If today's indicative votes don't show there is a majority in parliament for something it is hard to see what the government can do next.

The idea of another general election has been mooted. If this government has run the course and failed to find a solution, then another one is needed. May has suggested a general election might be nigh, saying in the House of Commons that the government was "reaching the limits of this process in this House".

The Claim

Having run down the clock and seemingly failed to scare MPs into backing her deal, May is running out of options.

If a no deal Brexit looms most expect parliament to table some sort of motion to stop it, but there is little direction on what the Commons does want rather than what it would like to avoid.

Writing for CNN, Jane Merrick argues the UK desperately needs a general election due to the vague nature of the Brexit debate during the last election campaign in 2017.

She writes that when May previously called a general election, parties did not debate the detail of a Brexit deal as one was not on the table, meaning the electorate made their decision on a wider spread of issues than just Brexit.

Merrick believes this has led to politicians misinterpreting the result of the election as a Brexit mandate - they don't know what the voters want, but have been guessing based on the result of the last election.

An election now would require far more focus on Brexit. There is a deal on the table, and other parties would have to present credible alternatives and strategies. At the very least, if a government was able to form a majority after the election it could claim to have a mandate and have enough support in the Commons to move forward.

The Counter Claim

Senior Tory MPs have warned the prime minister that a general election is "not the answer" to the Brexit impasse.

They have told May an election would "annihilate" the Tories, reports the Daily Mirror. Chief whip Julian Smith and May's chief of staff Gavin Barwell are opposed to the idea, fearful that there could be a hung parliament where the Tories might not even be the largest party in parliament.

That is a nightmare scenario for the Tories, triggering a general election and allowing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street, thus relinquishing control of the Brexit process.

Deputy Conservative party chairman James Cleverly said he didn't think an election would solve the government's problems as it would add "unnecessary delay" to the Brexit process. A general election would require a longer Brexit delay to allow for campaigning.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Cleverly has admitted the government is undertaking "sensible and pragmatic planning" for a general election but insisted it was not their intention to hold one.

The Facts

The Daily Mail reports that their polling for a potential general election has Labour taking 41 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Tories 36 per cent.

According to the poll there would be a hung parliament where Labour was the largest party with 307 seats compared to the Tories 264. With a number of parties to potentially ally Labour could then form a coalition government.

The British public appear to be anticipating an upcoming vote as the number of people registering to vote online has shot up over the past few days. While local elections are scheduled for May 2 the spike in applications is believed to be due to the possibility of a general election or second referendum.

To call a general election outside of the five year structure imposed by the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011 requires a motion with the support of two thirds of the House of Commons. The government then wraps up any outstanding business and is dissolved 25 working days before the election, during which time official campaigning takes place.

It should also mean the end of Theresa May, the prime minister having promised her party that she would stand down before the next election and allow another Tory leader to contest the vote.

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