BREXIT REBELS ‘MELTING AWAY’
On historic day in Parliament, MPs and peers look set to approve Bill
‘The supremacy of the Commons’
PEERS and MPs are today set to back a historic vote paving the way for Brexit after a Conservative rebellion melted away.
A small number of Tory Remainers could abstain or vote against the Government on the Bill giving Theresa May the power to begin the process of leaving the EU.
But insiders say there will not be enough to thwart the process, while senior figures in the unelected House of Lords indicated they would not block the will of the Commons.
Brexit Secretary David Davis urged MPs not to ‘tie the Prime Minister’s hands’ by backing wrecking amendments passed last week by the Lords.
If MPs and peers reject all amendments today, it is understood the Queen could give Royal Assent tomorrow morning, meaning the Bill would be passed into law.
That would free up Mrs May to trigger Article 50 – starting the two-year period of negotiation before Brexit – as soon as tomorrow. She has vowed to invoke Article 50 before the end of this month, meaning Britain will exit the EU by March 2019 at the latest.
This afternoon, MPs will debate two Lords amendments to the Brexit Bill.
One would give Parliament a ‘ meaningful’ vote on the divorce deal, while the other guarantees protections for EU nationals living in Britain.
If, as expected, they are rejected, peers will meet in the evening to decide whether to accept the verdict of MPs.
George Osborne, who masterminded the Remain campaign’s Project Fear, is expected to back the Govern- ment, although others may still rebel.
Allies of the ex- chancellor say he believes ministers will give assurances the Commons will have a truly ‘meaningful’ vote on the final Brexit deal.
Tory MPs including ex-chancellor Ken Clarke, ex-education secretary Nicky Morgan and former business minister Anna Soubry could still rebel.
But the number of rebels – ten at most – is not enough to defeat the Government. ProLeave MPs warn that, if the amendments passed, Parliament would have an effective veto, giving Brussels an incentive to offer a worse deal.
Yesterday Mr Davis urged rebels not to back amendments. On the Andrew Marr Show, he said: ‘Please don’t tie the Prime Minister’s hands in the process of doing that, for things which we expect to attain anyway.’
Tory rebel MPs backing the amendment may include exattorney general Dominic Grieve and Treasury committee chairman Andrew Tyrie.
Asked if Parliament will get a meaningful vote, Mr Davis said: ‘What we can’t have is either House of Parliament reversing the decision of the British people.’
If the votes go the way of the Government, the Bill will go before the Lords this evening.
Labour sources warned there was a 20 per cent chance of peers sending the Bill back if their amendments were dismissed out of hand. But Labour’s leader in the Lords has promised not to defy the will of the Commons.
And yesterday two Tory peers who rebelled last time – Baroness Altmann and Lord Heseltine – suggested they would back down.
Ex- deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, sacked from Government roles after voting against Mrs May in the Lords, admitted yesterday that he would fall in line if MPs defeat the amendments, adding: ‘ The arguments for the supremacy of the Commons would be very powerful.’
To begin the process of leaving the EU, Mrs May will write to European Council president Donald Tusk, setting out Britain’s demands.
She would also be expected to tell the Commons Article 50 has been invoked. Mr Tusk has said EU leaders will respond within 48 hours.
EU leaders will then hold a meeting, probably next month, to agree a response, before Mr Tusk replies with the EU’s position, sounding the starting gun on talks.
Consumers are ‘unfazed’ by Brexit uncertainty and feel confident about their future, a survey has found.
Less than a third of the 2,000 questioned by HSBC said they were worried about the effect of Brexit, and just 15.5 per cent were anxious about job security. The Remain camp’s negative message ‘simply has not resonated with voters’, HSBC said.
HALLELUJAH! Unelected Lords permitting, this week we should finally set sail for freedom from the statist, anti-democratic, inward-looking EU.
Yes, die-hard Remoaners in both houses will continue to resist the people’s will, with keen backing from the BBC and other Brussels-besotted media.
But with most accepting the popular verdict – and even arch-Europhile Lord Heseltine saying the Lords should not block the withdrawal process – all seems set fair for triggering formal negotiations.
So how deeply depressing that the Tories are squeezing the risk-taking, self-reliant, middle-class backbone of Britain – the very people who will lead our drive to compete in the wider world after Brexit.
Five days on, as the small print of the Budget comes under the microscope, details of the scale of the Treasury’s depredations are still coming to light.
Not only will the self- employed be hammered by the slashing of tax relief on dividends, higher National Insurance contributions and VAT bills – in blatant breach of the Tory manifesto – it now emerges that revenues from wealth taxes on middle-class savers will also double.
A triple whammy of increased receipts from inheritance tax, capital gains tax and a death tax, masquerading as probate fees, will push takings from these sources to a blistering £84billion.
What a reckless way to prepare for Brexit! Yes, this paper accepts the urgent need to control borrowing. But this should be done by cutting still-bloated spending in such wasteful areas as overseas aid (now set to increase still further as the economy grows).
Indeed, the last thing the Government should be doing is burdening small firms, savers and aspirational families with yet more taxes and red tape. We will not become fighting fit for Brexit by emulating the EU – and slaughtering the geese that lay the golden eggs.