Commons and Lords get vote on May’s deal

MPs and peers will be given a vote on the final Brexit deal secured by Theresa May – but will be unable to stop us leaving the EU.

In a surprise move, the Prime Minister yesterday announced a binding vote would take place on whether to accept the terms of her negotiation with Brussels.

But No 10 insisted that, if Parliament votes against the deal, Britain will still exit the EU once the two-year negotiation period is complete.

We would then revert to World Trade Organisation rules. This would mean UK goods such as cars and chocolate would face tariffs when they are sold into the EU, and vice versa.

Government insiders said it was hard to envisage a circumstance where MPs or peers, including diehard Remainers, would vote for such a ‘cliff edge’ scenario over a negotiated deal.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said: ‘The referendum last year set in motion a circumstance where the UK’s going to leave the European Union. [The parliamentary vote] won’t change that. What we want to have is a vote so the House can be behind and support the policy, which we are quite sure they will approve of when we get there.’

Mrs May’s official spokesman added: ‘Whatever happens, we are leaving the EU’.

However, the move triggered alarm among some Leave campaigners, who said it could lead to a ‘Remainer coup’.

Leave.eu founder Arron Banks, a close ally of Nigel Farage, said: ‘With the promise of a parliamentary vote on her deal with the EU, May has opened the door to a Remainer coup.

‘The House of Lords is a chamber of party political cronies, unfit for purpose. If she delivers on Brexit as she promises, it will be a miracle.’

There was also discontent among Remain supporters, including Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron – who demanded a second referendum, rather than just a vote at Westminster.

‘The people voted for departure, they should be given a vote on the destination. This is a theft of democracy,’ he said.

The announcement follows months of battles in Parliament and the courts over whether Westminster should get a say, with Remain supporting MPs – led by Labour and the Lib Dems – demanding votes on Brexit.

Campaigners also secured a High Court ruling that Parliament must be given a vote on the triggering of Article 50 – the formal process for leaving the EU and beginning negotiations. A verdict on the appeal against the ruling lodged by the Government in the Supreme Court is due by the end of this month.

However in a non-binding vote last year, the Commons delivered a 372-vote majority in favour of triggering Article 50 by the end of March 2017.