Theresa gets out of jail on Brexit vote – thanks to 5 Labour MPs
‘Dangerous game’
THERESA May’s Government was saved by a handful of Labour Eurosceptics last night as they joined forces to defeat a vote to keep Britain tied to the EU.
Amid dramatic scenes in the Commons, a dozen Tory Remainers defied warnings they would collapse the Government by siding with Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to preserve the customs union with Brussels.
The rebellion came despite desperate warnings from Tory chief whip Julian Smith that defeat on the issue would prompt him to call a vote of confidence in Mrs May today, followed by a possible general election.
Tory insiders said another ten Eurosceptic MPs would have sent in letters of no confidence in Mrs May if she had lost last night’s vote – potentially pushing the total over the 48 needed to spark a leadership challenge.
‘Had we not won we would have been looking at even more letters,’ one said.
Rebels inflicted an early defeat on the Government when they voted to keep Britain tied into the European Medicines Agency after Brexit by 305 votes to 301.
But, minutes later, the tables were reversed as MPs voted by 307 to 301 to reject an amendment to the Trade Bill that would have forced the Prime Minister to pursue a customs union with the EU – something she has ruled out repeatedly, including in last year’s Tory manifesto. The move is a major boost for Mrs May in her negotiations with Brussels, which had been repeatedly assured by Remainers that there was a majority in Parliament to keep Britain in the customs union.
Reacting to the narrow win, one No 10 insider said simply: ‘Thank f*** for that.’
Analysis of the voting record later showed that five Labour MPs voted with the Government: former ministers Frank Field and Kate Hoey and backbenchers John Mann, Graham Stringer and Kelvin Hopkins, who is sitting as an independent following suspension. If they had voted the other way, the Government would have lost by four votes.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries said: ‘If Labour rebels hadn’t stepped in tonight, our own 12 Remain rebels would have lost us that vote.
‘Third reading of the Trade Bill would have been pulled, a confidence vote called tomorrow. If that was lost, a general election. That’s how dangerous a game the Conservative Remainers are playing.’
A senior Government source said: ‘Losing this vote would have killed off a major part of the Brexit negotiations as Brussels could have just sat back and waited for parliament to take us into a customs union. Now we can negotiate seriously.’
Victory for Mrs May came as Downing Street braced itself for a possible resignation speech by Boris Johnson this afternoon, in which he is expected to criticise the Chequers plan.
And ministers were forced to abandon plans to give MPs an early holiday just 24 hours after they were announced.
The EU meanwhile was preparing the release of ‘strongly-worded’ emergency guidelines on preparations for a no-deal Brexit.
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