MPs reject all alternative Brexit options
None of eight indicative votes gains majority, with customs
union option coming closest
Peter Walker Political correspondent
@peterwalker99
Wed 27 Mar 2019 22.09 GMT Last modified on Wed 27 Mar 2019
22.36 GMT
A first attempt by MPs to find a consensus route forward for
Brexit has ended in deadlock and confusion after the Commons rejected every
option put forward, albeit with a near-even split on the idea of joining a
customs union.
Oliver Letwin, the veteran Conservative MP who led the
process which allowed backbenchers to seize control of the order paper to hold
a series of indicative votes, said the results were “disappointing” but he
hoped a new round of votes would be held on Monday.
The Speaker, John Bercow, said he would allow this to take
place, prompting shouts of protests from many MPs.
The Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, said the results
strengthened the government’s view that Theresa May’s Brexit deal was the best
and only way forward.
On the lack of a majority for any of the eight alternatives
put to the vote on Wednesday, he said: “It demonstrates that there is not easy
option here, that there is no easy way forward.”
Groups of MPs had suggested 15 ideas, of which eight were
selected by Bercow for votes.
The closest result was a commitment for the government to
negotiate a “permanent and comprehensive UK-wide customs union with the EU” in
any Brexit deal. Put forward by the pro-EU Tory veteran Ken Clarke and others,
it was voted down by 272 votes to 264.
The only other relatively close vote was on a plan drawn up
by the Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, and tabled by the former foreign
secretary Margaret Beckett, to require a referendum to confirm any Brexit deal.
This was lost by 268 votes to 295.
Other softer Brexit options sustained heavier defeats. A
plan for “common market 2.0”, involving UK membership of the European Free
Trade Association (Efta) and European Economic Area (EEA), had 188 votes in
support and 283 against.
The Labour frontbench plan for a softer Brexit was defeated
by 237 to 307, while a motion tabled by the Conservative MP George Eustice,
which proposed staying in Efta and the EEA without a customs union, only gained
65 votes, with 377 against.
The final three votes were also decisive, and concerned
other areas of Brexit. A Conservative Brexiter plan to propose leaving the EU
without a deal on 12 April lost by 160 votes to 400; a Scottish National party
plan to revoke article 50 lost by 184 to 293; and another Brexiter plan seeking
preferential trade arrangements with the EU if there is no withdrawal agreement
lost by 139 to 422.
The complex set of votes took place after an amendment to
the government’s Brexit motion on Monday was passed by the Commons by 329 votes
to 302. Tabled by many dozens of MPs and led by Letwin, it set aside Wednesday
for the Commons to hold non-binding votes on as many options as MPs wanted to
put down.
The government has criticised the way the MPs seized control
of parliamentary business, saying it was a dangerous constitutional precedent.
To this end, it whipped against the vote on Monday, prompting three junior
ministers to resign so they could back the plan.
Conservative MPs were also ordered to vote against the
business motion on Wednesday, which was needed for the debate to happen at all.
It passed nonetheless, by 331 votes to 287, with 33 Tories rebelling.
Labour also whipped for its MPs to support some plans,
including the holding of a confirmatory referendum. This prompted the shadow
housing minister, Melanie Onn, to resign from the frontbench, saying she could
not support any such vote.
May vows to resign before next phase of Brexit if deal is
passed
PM says she will not stand in way of desire for new approach
but DUP remains opposed to deal
Heather Stewart, Rowena Mason and Peter Walker
Wed 27 Mar 2019 23.49 GMT First published on Wed 27 Mar 2019
17.35 GMT
Theresa May has played her final desperate card to tame the
Brexit rebels in her warring party, by promising to sacrifice her premiership
if they back her twice-rejected Brexit deal.
The beleaguered prime minister, whose authority has been
shattered by the double rejection of her deal and the humiliation of a delay to
Brexit day, made the offer to Tory backbenchers at a packed meeting in
parliament.
It came as MPs held backbench-led “indicative votes” on
eight alternative Brexit options, including no deal, a referendum, a customs
union and a Norway-style deal – none of which secured a majority.
May told her party’s backbench 1922 Committee: “I have heard
very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for
a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit
negotiations, and I won’t stand in the way of that.”
She added: “I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I
intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.”
Her high-stakes pledge came on another dramatic day in
Westminster, as:
• Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith led a stream of
Eurosceptics to support May’s deal.
• MPs failed to coalesce around an alternative to the deal
in a series of “indicative votes”.
• Labour’s divisions on Brexit were exposed, as three
members of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet defied the whip to resist backing a
second referendum.
• The DUP threw May’s chances of getting her deal through
parliament into doubt by saying its MPs would not support it.
The prime minister had hoped to remain in No 10 after exit
day, and build a legacy that extended beyond the humiliations of the Brexit
talks to domestic policy.
But if the withdrawal agreement is passed and Britain leaves
the EU in eight weeks’ time, she could now be gone before the summer – after
just three years in the top job.
Three ministers resigned on Monday to back an amendment
tabled by a cross-bench group of MPs led by the Tory former minister Oliver
Letwin to test the backing for alternatives to the prime minister’s deal.
On Wednesday night, Letwin said it was “a great matter of
disappointment” that no majority had emerged for any of the eight options
debated that day. He said another set of votes would be held on Monday – but he
hoped that May’s deal would be accepted before then.
The closest result was on a commitment for the government to
negotiate a “permanent and comprehensive UK-wide customs union with the EU” in
any Brexit deal. Put forward by the pro-EU Tory veteran Ken Clarke and others,
it was voted down by 272 votes to 264.
The only other relatively close vote was on a plan drawn up
by the Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, and tabled by the former foreign
secretary Margaret Beckett, to require a referendum to confirm any Brexit deal.
This was lost by 268 votes to 295.
Backers of a referendum said the result showed they were
gaining ground. Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson said: “When this parliament
has finally made a decision on what Brexit means, I am hopeful that a majority
will emerge for any final proposal to be put to a vote, not only by MPs, but
also by the people.”
However, 27 Labour MPs defied a three-line whip to vote
against a referendum, with one shadow minister, Melanie Onn, resigning in order
to do so and three shadow cabinet members abstaining.
May was forced to give her MPs a free vote – and instructed
her cabinet to abstain – rather than suffer a string of resignations from
ministers keen to signal their support for alternatives.
The government had earlier tried and failed to stop the
indicative vote process happening altogether, by whipping MPs to reject the
business motion kicking off the debate.
The Brexit secretary, Steve Barclay, said: “The results of
the process this House has gone through today strengthens our view that the
deal the government has negotiated is the best option.”
Ministers now hope to make a third attempt to ram May’s deal
through the House of Commons on Friday – though their prospects of success were
thrown into doubt after the DUP said its 10 MPs would vote against it.
The prime minister had been under intense pressure to set
out a timetable for her departure, as the leave-supporting wing of her party
continued to resist supporting her deal, which was defeated by a majority of
149 earlier this month.
Outside the 1922 meeting, the Tory MP Simon Hart, who leads
the Brexit Delivery Group, said: “She made it very clear: I want the next prime
minister to be one of the colleagues in there tonight, not down the corridor at
the PLP [parliamentary Labour party] meeting.”
The response from MPs was “respectful recognition for her
hard work and service, not celebration”, he said.
Several of the most determined Brexit holdouts, including
Rees-Mogg, Duncan Smith and Johnson, were invited to the prime minister’s
country retreat of Chequers on Sunday.
They denied that any pact about her departure had been made,
but just minutes after May’s emotional promise Johnson told colleagues at the
European Research Group (ERG) that he would now support the deal, saying the
next phase of talks would have to have a “change of tone and mandate”.
Rees-Mogg had already suggested he could vote for the deal,
fearing it was now the only way of ensuring Britain leaves the EU. However, he
later suggested he could not support it if the DUP remained opposed.
EU27 leaders granted Britain a delay to Brexit to 22 May in
Brussels last week – but only if May’s deal wins the support of parliament this
week. Downing Street suggested that a leadership contest could kick off soon
afterwards, but only if her deal is passed.
If it is not supported this week, the prime minister must
return to Brussels before 12 April to set out what she plans to do next – and
potentially request a longer extension.
Ministers signalled that they would now hold an extra
parliamentary session on Friday, in the hope of winning a third “meaningful
vote” – if they can persuade enough Tory rebels to switch sides.
The Speaker, John Bercow, stressed on Wednesday that he
would not allow the government to table the same deal for a third meaningful
vote.
But ministers were considering plans to hold the first
reading of the withdrawal agreement bill – giving MPs a vote on the flagship
bill implementing the deal, rather than a similar motion.
May's Brexit resignation offer: what happens next?
Prime minister will resign if her deal passes parliament,
triggering Tory leadership race
Peter Walker Political correspondent
@peterwalker99
Wed 27 Mar 2019 19.32 GMT Last modified on Thu 28 Mar 2019
01.10 GMT
The process of Theresa May stepping down may not start until
22 May, the UK’s departure date if her deal is passed. Photograph: Facundo
Arrizabalaga/EPA
Theresa May has announced that she will step down as prime
minister before the next phase of the Brexit negotiations. Here is what we know
so far.
What did the PM say?
May told a meeting of the 1922 Committee of Conservative
backbenchers she would go if her plan is passed by the Commons: “I know there
is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of
the Brexit negotiations, and I won’t stand in the way of that.” She said she
had “heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party” in wanting this to
happen.
When will she go?
Her published comments to the 1992 Committee do not make
this explicit, but MPs talking to reporters afterwards said they were clear
this meant she would start the process on 22 May – the date of the UK’s departure
agreed with the EU if her deal is passed. This, however, would just be the
start of the leadership battle, and a successor would not be in place until the
summer. The reported expectation is that this could be July.
What happens if her deal is defeated?
It seems she will stay. The leading Brexiter MP Jacob
Rees-Mogg said after the meeting that if May’s deal lost in a third meaningful
vote, “she would have every right to carry on”. This could, of course, change
very quickly if political pressure mounted again.
How will the next leader be selected?
Under the Conservative party rules, the same ones under
which May took over from David Cameron, the process has two parts.
In the first, Tory MPs hold a series of votes to whittle
down the initial field of candidates to two. Officially it happens one by one:
after every ballot, in which each MP can vote for one candidate, the
bottom-placed person is eliminated. However, in reality, people tend to drop
out more quickly if they realise they have no chance of winning. In 2016, the
bottom two candidates left after the first ballot, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox,
both quit.
The rules decree that the final two candidates are then put
to a vote of party members. In 2016 this did not happen because Andrea Leadsom,
the second person left with May, dropped out. When Cameron became leader in
2005, he easily beat David Davis, winning 68% of the members’ vote. In 2001,
Iain Duncan Smith beat Ken Clarke by a similar margin.
Who will stand?
A better question may be: who won’t? More than a dozen
ministers and backbenchers have been mentioned as possible candidates, and
others are bound to emerge. Lots will not – traditionally, a number of people
tend to drop out immediately before the MPs’ votes begin, throwing their lot
behind another MP on the implicit hope of a decent ministerial job in the event
of success.
One clear divide will be between Brexiter MPs and those with
more remain tendencies. On the former side, clear frontrunners will most likely
be the former cabinet ministers Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, and possibly
the environment secretary, Michael Gove. Steve Barclay, the Brexit secretary,
and Penny Mourdant, the international development secretary, could fancy their
chances.
On the less Brexity side, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary
and now officially a born-again Brexiter, is expected to run, as could Sajid
Javid, the home secretary. Others could include Matt Hancock, who replaced Hunt
as health secretary, and Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary.
Backbenchers could even have a try, for example George Freeman or Johnny
Mercer.
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