INSTANT VIEW-UK parliament speaker deals new blow to May's Brexit plan

British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a fresh Brexit setback on Monday when the speaker of parliament said any proposal she puts to lawmakers must be substantially different to the ones previously rejected by them. Below are quotes and reaction to the ruling.

JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

"If the government wishes to bring forward a new proposition that is neither the same, nor substantially the same as that disposed of by the House on the 12th of March, this would be entirely in order." "What the government cannot legitimately do is to resubmit to the House (of Commons) the same proposition or substantially the same proposition as that of last week which was rejected by 149 votes."

"Fundamentally, for something to be different, it has to be by definition, fundamentally different. Not different in terms of wording, but difference in terms of substance and this is in the context of a negotiation with others outside the United Kingdom."

PM THERESA MAY'S SPOKESMAN

May's spokesman said he wasn't in a position to comment on Bercow's statement. "The speaker did not forewarn us of the content of his statement, or indeed the fact that he was making one, so I'm not in a position to give you an immediate response," the spokesman said.

PRISONS MINISTER RORY STEWART, WHO SUPPORTS MAY

"In the normal course of events, as the speaker says, parliament says no, and the issue is dropped. But in this case, this is not an option, because these votes respond to an instruction in a referendum, endorsed by parliament, which rules out dropping back to the status quo."

JAMES SMITH, DEVELOPED MARKETS ECONOMIST WITH ING

"Just looking at the faces of some people, it has clearly come as a big surprise in parliament and I imagine it has in Brussels too. There is no sign of the deal being changed (by the EU) so we are probably back to a lengthy extension or more no-deal talk over the next few days."

DANIELLE HARALAMBOUS, ANALYST AT ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

"Mr Bercow's statement was unprecedented and has more significantly limited the government's room for manoeuvre, making it difficult to see how Mrs May can still hope to get her deal approved." "Mr Bercow has made the point that the government needs a new proposition to put to the House... The problem is that the government has no more leeway to alter the terms of deal in talks with the EU (not to mention no more time) and now cannot present the same motion to parliament." "While it was looking for a while like Mrs May had a better chance of getting her deal through, Mr Bercow's move may have reduced this chance again, and a longer Brexit extension to pursue another plan is looking more likely."