A CABINET OF CLOWNS
Ministers joke about dire no-deal scenario
THERESA May’s ministers have resorted to gallows humour as they face certain defeat on her Brexit plans.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove yesterday told colleagues at a Cabinet meeting that MPs pushing for a better deal were “like mid-50s swingers waiting for Scarlett Johansson to turn up”.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd reportedly joined in, adding: “Or Pierce Brosnan.”
Justice Secretary David Gauke claimed Labour’s position was like waiting for Holywood A-lister Johansson to arrive “on a unicorn”.
The bizarre jokes were made as the Cabinet discussed preparations for a potential no-deal Brexit.
But ministers had little to laugh about last night after MPs backed a move to make it more difficult for the Government to spend money if May allows the UK to crash out of the EU without a deal.
The Government suffered the defeat in the Commons after it was confirmed following the Cabinet meeting that MPs will finally get to vote on May’s Brexit deal next week.
The vote was initially set to take place on December 11 but was postponed when it became clear that the Prime Minister faced certain defeat.
May told the first Cabinet meeting since the Christmas break that she continues to seek assurances from the EU to address MPs’ concerns over issues such as the proposed Irish border “backstop”.
Afterwards, No10 confirmed that the “meaningful vote” is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, after five days of debate that will be kicked off today by Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay.
But a cross-party group of MPs, led by Labour’s Chris Bryant and Tory Dominic Grieve, are pushing to cut the debate short. They are planning amendments to force a vote tomorrow and to block May from delaying it again.
If her deal is rejected, as is widely expected, they also want May to return to the Commons within three days with an alternative – rather than the three weeks set out in the current timetable.
Bryant summed up many MPs’ frustration when he said there was no need to have multiple days of debate as little had changed over the Christmas break. He added: “Let’s stop faffing about – let’s get on with it.”
Just hours later, May’s Government suffered a defeat when former Labour minister Yvette Cooper tabled an amendment to the Budgetenacting Finance (No. 3) Bill.
Her proposal, which aims to restrict the Government’s freedom to use the Bill to make tax changes linked to a no-deal Brexit without the “explicit consent” of Parliament, attracted support from Tory rebels. It was carried by 303 votes to 296.
Meanwhile, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday said the EU were “happy to give” the UK fresh assurances on the backstop.
He added: “We don’t want to trap the UK into anything.”
But it looked doubtful that any real progress on the issue would be made before next week’s vote.