May: I’ll delay vote on Brexit
‘March 12’ target as she faces bid to block no-deal
THERESA May has admitted MPs will not get a meaningful vote on her Brexit deal on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister said with negotiations ongoing, she could even make them wait until March 12 – just 17 days before our EU split date.
It came ahead of Mrs May updating the Commons tomorrow before MPs try to force her to take a no-deal option off the table on Wednesday.
She said: “My team will be back in Brussels this week. As a result, we won’t bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week but will ensure that happens by March 12.”
Labour’s Yve tt e Cooper, who will spearhead a bid to block no-deal, said: “The Prime Minister’s remarks make it even more vital the Commons votes for our Bill to try to restore some common sense to this process. [The PM] isn’t acting responsibly in the national interest.” The amendment will force Mrs May to delay Brexit beyond March 29 rather than quit without a pact.
Brussels would reportedly prefer a long extension of Article 50 – up to 21 months, delaying Brexit to 2021 – if extra time is needed. But Mrs May said an extension will not “solve the issue”. Speaking as she flew to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for an EU-Arab League summit, she added: “It defers the point of decision.
“There comes a point where we need to make that decision.”
European Council President Donald Tusk reportedly told the PM on the margins of the summit last night that Brussels needs “clarity that a proposal for the way forward can command a majority in the UK”.
The PM also signalled she will defy calls to quit and let someone else thrash out our future relationship with the EU after we have left.
And she hit back at defector Anna Soubry’s claims she has a problem with immigration, saying: “As I have consistently said, immigration has been good for this country.”
THERESA May is playing a dangerous game when she blackmails Brexit by running down the clock in the hope that MPs will be panicked into backing her bad deal to avoid a catastrophic crash-out.
We know she’s desperate. Other European leaders know too, when diplomats predict Brexit will be postponed until 2021 – evidence mounting that a sneaky Prime Minister’s being less than honest with the British people.
Playing for time, her principal tactic when 27 countries display little appetite to renegotiate a Northern Ireland-Republic of Ireland agreement she asked for and endorsed, is risky. It is a sign that May places a greater emphasis on her personal survival in Downing Street than she does on the welfare of our country.
Whatever side of the argument MPs are on, this is the moment to take back control and demand Parliament can decide what happens next rather than let her play her dubious game.