May set to stay but EU departure may be delayed
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to bring down Theresa May’s government through a motion of no confidence after the defeat of her Brexit deal looks set to fail, after Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists and the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers pledged to stand by her.
DUP leader Arlene Foster confirmed that her 10 Ulster MPs would vote against the censure motion and kill off the prospects of a general election. The Conservatives’ ERG confirmed its members would ‘‘of course be voting with the government’’.
Speaking after the crushing defeat, Foster said she would work ‘‘constructively’’ with May for ‘‘a better deal’’.
She added that the Commons had delivered an ‘‘unmistakable message’’ that the Irish backstop was unacceptable, while also providing May with the leverage to secure more concessions from Brussels.
If MPs back the vote of no confidence, May is expected to resign, leaving her Conservative Party with 14 days to form a new administration capable of winning a subsequent confidence vote.
Failing that, Corbyn could attempt to form a coalition government, though the chances of this are considered remote.
Britain’s departure from the EU could be delayed until the end of the year under a cross-party plan by MPs to seize control of the Brexit process.
A group of rebels led by three former Conservative ministers published a draft bill yesterday that they hope to force on the government after parliament’s rejection of May’s deal. It would strip the government of the power to dictate the terms of Brexit and allow MPs to try to formulate a plan that could command majority support.
Significantly, the bill stipulates that if this fails, the prime minister would be compelled to go Brussels and request an extension to Article 50 until December, nine months after the planned departure date of March 29.
Sir Oliver Letwin, Nick Boles and Nicky Morgan, the former ministers who devised the plan, all supported May’s deal. Their plan has won the backing of Hilary Benn, the Brexit select committee chairman, and Yvette Cooper, the home affairs select committee chairwoman.
However, so far supporters of a second Brexit referendum have given it a wide berth, fearing that it is being used to exert pressure on Tory Brexiteers to back May’s deal rather than being a genuine attempt to consider other options.
Normally, a backbench bill such as this would have no chance of becoming law, because under Commons standing orders the government controls the parliamentary timetable. However, the rebels plan to table an amendment to the motion on Brexit that May must lay before the House next week to suspend those standing orders, giving the bill time to be debated.
The Labour front bench has yet to say whether it would support the plan, but Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, suggested that he was receptive to the idea.
In the Commons, Benn said it was inevitable that an extension to Article 50 would be needed.