Major blow to May deal as ministers forced to publish Brexit advice in full

▶ MPs find government in contempt of parliament over bid to withhold information before crucial vote

Britain’s ministers were forced to back down yesterday after Parliament found the government was in contempt over an order to publish full legal advice on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the EU.

In a serious blow to the government’s Brexit plans, Conservative House leader Andrea Leadsom indicated that the legal advice would be published today.

Mrs May was due to open five days of parliamentary debate about her Brexit withdrawal deal ahead of a crunch vote scheduled for December 11. But the debate was delayed as MPs voted on the contempt motion.

Ms Leadsom had argued that the advice was confidential but the opposition Labour Party said the government was “wilfully refusing” to comply with an earlier order passed through parliament.

Critics of the government said they suspected ministers of trying to hide how closely tied to the customs union Britain would be until a new trade deal is worked out.

The contempt row is unlikely to lead to Mrs May’s downfall but the debate highlighted how little trust MPs have in the deal agreed with Brussels.

Earlier yesterday a senior adviser to the European Court of Justice said Britain could unilaterally halt its divorce from the EU.

Advocate General Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona said he believed Britain could revoke Article 50 without agreement from other EU states.

The court said Article 50 “authorises the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the Union”.

“That possibility continues to exist until the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded,” the court said.

As a result, the British pound rallied, gaining 0.7 per cent against the US dollar to $1.281.

Meanwhile, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney hit back after pro-Brexit MPs accused him of scaremongering.

Last week, the bank said a chaotic exit from the EU could, in a worst-case scenario, lead to the economy shrinking by up to 8 per cent within a year and house prices plunging by a third.

Mr Carney insisted that there was only a small chance that this could happen, but said the bank was duty bound to inform MPs of its analysis.

While yesterday’s legal opinion from Mr Campos Sanchez-Bordona, which is usually but not always followed by judges at the court, gave a boost to the significant number of pro-European MPs who do not want to see Brexit come to pass.

Scottish Member of the European Parliament Alyn Smith who, along with other politicians from across the political spectrum, launched the legal proceedings in December last year, said the legal opinion showed that the “Brexit clock” could be stopped.

The Scottish National Party politician insisted there was “a road map out of the Brexit shambles”.

“This is a huge win for us, and a huge step forward from the highest court in the business, and confirms what we have been hoping for – that the UK can indeed change its mind on Brexit and revoke Article 50, unilaterally,” he said.

Article 50 was invoked on March 29 last year, after the June 2016 Brexit referendum. Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in less than five months.

Mrs May said Britain would leave regardless of any decision by the EU court and that the choice was between her deal or no deal.

But pro-Europeans in Britain hope that if the court rules a member state can unilaterally withdraw from Article 50 then a third option – to remain in the bloc – will become more of a possibility.

The contempt row is unlikely to lead to Mrs May’s downfall, but the debate highlighted how little trust MPs have in the deal agreed with Brussels