Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
UTTER CONTEMPT
Labour’s move may force May minister to miss Brexit vote
ONE of Theresa May’s most senior ministers faces being excluded from next week’s vote on our Brexit deal after Labour called for contempt proceedings over her refusal to publish the full legal advice.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox was involved in a row in the Commons after saying secrecy was in the national interest and MPS must “grow up”.
Labour and five other parties – including the SNP and the DUP – have now urged Speaker John Bercow to trigger contempt proceedings.
If successful, the move could result in Mr Cox or David Lidington, the de facto deputy Prime Minister, being suspended from the Commons and Cabinet for five days. It raises the prospect of one of the PM’S key ministers being unable to help her win over Tory MPS ahead of next Tuesday – and even missing the vote.
A summary of the legal advice issued yesterday said the Northern Ireland backstop to prevent a hard border would continue indefinitely “unless and until” the UK strike a new trade deal with Brussels. But it fell short of the full legal advice demanded by the Commons in a vote last month. Cabinet insiders claim the full advice has stark warnings about the backstop plan.
In a stormy session, Shadow Attorney General Nick Thomas-symonds said: “The Government should make this full advice available, with so much at stake.”
But Mr Cox shot back: “It’s no use, the baying and shouting of members opposite. What I am trying to do is guard the public interest. It’s time they grew up and got real.” Mr Cox also confirmed fears the backstop could last indefinitely if it came into force. He admitted we would have no unilateral right to get out of the arrangement – causing Tory MP Desmond Swayne to shout: “So it’s a trap!”
The PM will spend the next few days holding meetings with MPS. Around 100 Tory backbenchers have blasted her deal and she is widely expected to lose the crunch vote, throwing her regime into turmoil.
But Mrs May was bullish when asked if she would resign or be toppled in the event of a defeat. On ITV’S This Morning yesterday, she said: “I will still have a job in two weeks’ time.”