BREXIT BLOODY NOSE FOR MAY
PM suffers humiliating Commons defeat after rebel Tory MPs side with Labour and the SNP to win a veto on her deal to leave EU
THERESA May was last night dealt a humiliating blow after rebel Tory MPs sided with Labour and the SNP to defeat her over Brexit. Amid angry scenes in the Commons, MPs voted by 309 votes to 305 to force through a change in the law that will give them a veto on the final Brexit deal negotiated by the Prime Minister.
Labour MPs punched the air and cheered as the result was read out to a packed Commons chamber while Tory rebels looked on.
Eleven Conservative MPs, led by former attorney general Dominic Grieve, voted with Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP to inflict the first significant Commons defeat on the Prime Minister.
It came despite pleas from Government whips not to give the Prime Minister a ‘bloody nose’ as she prepared for a key Brussels summit today where she hopes to persuade EU leaders to open talks on a post-Brexit trade deal.
Mrs May appealed to rebels to back down, saying they were jeopardising
Djanogly and Sir Oliver Heald, and backbenchers Heidi Allen, Antoinette Sandbach, and Sarah Wollaston.
A number of other potential rebels abstained after the Government offered a lastminute concession, saying they would bring forward similar proposals at a later stage.
Tory Vicky Ford was guided through the voting lobby by Chancellor Philip Hammond after apparently dithering over whether to rebel.
In a provocative intervention, Mrs Morgan, who was sacked by the Prime Minister last year, boasted: ‘Tonight, Parliament took control of the EU withdrawal process.’
Her comments were echoed by the European parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who said: ‘British Parliament takes back control. European and British Parliament together will decide on the final agreement. Interests of the citizens will prevail over narrow party politics. A good day for democracy.’
Last night, a group of Tory rebels retired to a Commons bar to toast their ‘victory’.
The defeat will underline concerns in Brussels about the ability of Mrs May to deliver any deal they negotiate with her.
Former chancellor Kenneth Clarke said it was vital that MPs got the chance to reject the deal before it had been agreed by government.
‘The vote’s got to take place before the British Governwas ment has committed itself to the terms of the treaty-like agreement that is entered into with the other members,’ he said. ‘Any other vote is not meaningful.’
By handing parliament a veto, the rebels have raised the prospect that MPs could vote down the deal next year, plunging Brexit and the country into chaos.
Former Tory cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin said it clear the rebels wanted ‘the ability to derail Brexit’.
Fellow Tory Philip Davies said it was clear the rebels were trying to overturn the result of last year’s referendum.
He said: ‘There was a meaningful vote on June 23, 2016, when people voted to leave the European Union.
‘The problem with [Mr Grieve’s] amendment is it could be, and no doubt is designed to be, used to try to overturn and frustrate that meaningful vote.’
Mr Davies said if MPs use the amendment for that purpose then the ‘backlash from the British public will be like none seen before’.
Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake warned that giving Parliament a veto on the final deal would give the EU ‘an incentive to put the worst deal on the table’.
SNP international affairs spokesman Stephen Gethins said: ‘For the past 18 months, the UK Government has at every opportunity avoided scrutiny and due parliamentary process.
‘The Tories cannot simply railroad ahead with its plans to leave the EU.’
In a statement, a Government spokesman said: ‘We are disappointed that Parliament has voted for this amendment. We are as clear as ever that this Bill, and the powers within it, are essential.’
Comment – Page 14
‘Incentive to put on worst deal’