Merkel ally demands divorce bill clarity
REBEL Tory MPs should be thrown out of the party if they defy their constituents to block Theresa May’s bid to enshrine an EU exit date in law, a senior MEP said last night.
As the Commons battle over the departure from the EU intensified, David Campbell Bannerman warned Conservative candidates thinking of siding with Labour that they “stood on a manifesto only a few months ago to honour the people’s decision to leave the EU.”
He added: “A vote against this commitment would be a huge breach of trust, show contempt for democracy and should lead to their loss of the whip and deselection by the party.
“Whilst the Government is open and listening to reasonable amendments to the Bill, any such vote against the Brexit date itself would be well beyond the pale.”
Ashamed
His warning came after up to 15 Tory backbenchers threatened to defy ministers in key votes during the parliamentary scrutiny of the EU Withdrawal Bill.
The group included nine MPs representing constituencies where a majority of voters backed leaving the EU in last year’s historic in-or-out referendum. They are Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan, Oliver Heald, Jonathan Djanogly, Vicky Ford, Tom Tugendhat, Jeremy Lefroy, Sarah Wollaston and Antoinette Sandbach.
Ukip deputy leader Margot Parker said: “The sight of Tory MPs threatening to vote against the Government, particularly those who sit for Leave constituencies, turns my stomach.
“These men and women, who won their seats fighting on a clear manifesto and the voices of 17.5 million shouting in their ears, should be ashamed of themselves.” MPs are to CONCERNS that Brexit talks are set to stall again were raised last night when a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded further concessions from Britain over the EU’s multi-billion “divorce” demand.
MEP Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party, urged Theresa May to specify how much the Government was prepared to pay to Brussels.
At a meeting in Downing Street, he warned her that failure to give more detail on the UK’s financial obligations will mean the EU will refuse permission to allow the Brexit talks to move on to the key issue of trade next month. Speaking spend more than 60 hours over the next few weeks scrutinising the Bill, which seeks to lay the legal basis for a smooth departure from the EU and transfer existing Brussels law onto the UK statute book.
Last night, the Government continued to battle Remainer MPs who are determined to frustrate their Brexit plans.
Labour’s bid to change the Bill – to make it harder for ministers after Brexit to alter EU-based employment, equality, and health and safety rights, and consumer and environmental standards – was defeated by 299 votes to 311, giving the Government a majority of 12.
A bid by MPs to make ministers spell out technical provisions of after his talks with the Prime Minister yesterday Mr Weber said: “When somebody is leaving the club then such a person or such a member state has to pay the open bill.
Ambitious
“That is what we are asking for – simply fairness, simply to do what you promised to do.
“For the so-called sufficient progress question for the December council, the most important thing is not the figure. The most important thing is to clarify the commitments existing EU law that could be changed by processes which undergo less scrutiny than full Parliamentary Bills was defeated by 311 votes to 295, giving the Government a majority of 16.
Senior Tories were yesterday confident a Government amendment to the Bill to get a Brexit date of 29 2019 enshrined in law will pass despite the threatened rebellion.
One backbencher said: “With support from the Democratic Unionist Party and the Labour Eurosceptics, we should be in the clear.”
The row over the threatened rebellion intensified yesterday when Ms Soubry, a former business minister, hit out after being branded a “Brexit mutineer” in a newspaper – the areas where Great Britain has to see its commitments.”
Mr Weber said the Prime Minister’s Florence speech – when she had promised no member states would lose out financially as a result of Brexit – had been a “good starting point”.
Downing Street described the meeting as “constructive” and said that Mrs May had made clear the UK was seeking an “ambitious partnership” which did not “follow the existing models”.
A crunch EU summit in Brussels next month is set to decide whether the talks can progress to the issue of trade.
If the permission is withheld, report. “The bullying begins. We want a good Brexit not a hard, ideologically-driven Brexit,” she said on Twitter. In the Commons, Ms Soubry said being named in the report was “a badge of honour” and revealed a series of social media messages attacking her had been reported to the police.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs May called for unity saying the Government “is listening carefully to those who wish to improve the Bill.” She added: “I hope that we can all come together to deliver on the decision that the country took that we should leave the European Union.” demands from Brexit supporters for the Government to walk out of the Brussels talks are expected to increase dramatically.
Mr Weber later told a news conference that while he was “more optimistic” about the prospects for a deal there had still to be further progress before they could move to the second phase.
“I am more optimistic. There is progress and a will to see progress,” he said.
“The atmosphere is positive but we need clear and concrete commitments to step into the second phase.
“For now the green light is not there.”