Let’s get this Brexit process back on track

The UK’S withdrawal from the EU was never going to be a straightforward affair but the Parliamentary shenanigans now under way in order to bring it about are complicating matters further. In the referendum in June 2016, a majority voted to leave and the expectation was that Parliament, having asked the nation’s opinion, would act upon it. That is, after all, the democratic way.

A celebrated court case made it clear that the Government could not trigger the process for withdrawal without the consent of Parliament and that was duly given by 498 votes to 114, hardly a narrow majority. A general election was staged in which the two major parties committed themselves to leaving in March 2019, two years after the UK gave notice under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Today in the House of Commons MPS will begin the committee stages of the EU Withdrawal Bill with more than 400 amendments tabled including some that appear more designed to thwart Brexit that to facilitate it. The Labour Party’s gradual shift away from its election campaign position continues, making the defeat of the Government a realistic prospect on key amendments with the help of Tory Remainers.

The Government has sought to remove that possibility by announcing a completely new Bill to be put to Parliament to enact the final agreement. It would put into law the new treaty arrangements governing future UK/EU relations which both sides hope to agree by next October.

This promise has made many of the amendments to the legislation now before the Commons redundant. However, it also raises obvious questions over timing. If negotiations continue into 2019 will there be time to get a Bill through Parliament before the exit date, which Theresa May wants to enshrine in law? Moreover, would such a measure be amendable once a deal had already been done since it would be almost impossible to unravel it? And if the legislation falls, what then?

However, with another 10 Brexit Bills in the pipeline it can no longer be argued that Parliament has not been given its say. This new measure will be in addition to the “meaningful” vote that MPS have been promised on whether to accept the deal. It is now incumbent upon MPS and peers to make the legislative process as smooth as possible, not exploit it to undermine the Government’s negotiating hand in Brussels.