NO EU DEAL IS NOT AN OPTION
Lords force May to avoid crashing out
THERESA May was dealt a crushing defeat last night as Parliament won the power to block a “no deal” Brexit.
The Lords voted by 335 to 244 to hand MPs control over what happens next if they reject the PM’s final agreement with Brussels.
It means May could be forced back to the negotiating table instead of crashing out of the EU in 2019.
Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer hailed the “hugely significant” amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill – the seventh defeat so far – saying it would “avoid a no deal”.
Mark Malloch Brown, chairman of anti-Brexit group Best for Britain, said: “This feels like a turning point. This is a massive defeat for the Government.”
But Brexit minister Steve Baker warned it would “weaken the UK’s hand” in talks.
He claimed that it could be used “to overthrow the referendum result”.
And ex-minister John Redwood predicted MPs would block the amendment when it returns to Commons.
Nineteen Tory peers rebelled against the Government after an angry debate in which Lib Dem peer Lord Roberts compared May’s tactics with Adolf Hitler’s.
Lord Roberts warned the Prime Minister that she should “learn the lessons of history” after trying to ignore the will of Parliament.
He said: “My mind went back to Berlin in March 1933 when the Enabling Bill was passed in the Reichstag.
“That Enabling Bill transferred democratic rights of the parliament into the hands of one man, that was the chancellor. His name was Adolf Hitler.”
May’s spokesman said: “The British public voted to leave the EU and the Government are delivering on that.
“It is simply not right that Parliament could overturn this.”