Bercow ‘making it up as he goes along’ after insisting vote won’t go ahead without change
JOHN BERCOW was accused of “making it up as he goes along” after putting a fresh barrier in the way of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
The Prime Minister had planned to hold a third Brexit vote tomorrow but the Commons Speaker threw those plans into chaos by saying he would block it unless the deal had “substantially” changed.
He also warned Mrs May he would stop any attempt to circumvent his ruling “by the back door”.
His move triggered a major row with the Government, which is now considering its options to outwit the Speaker, including asking the Queen to dissolve Parliament for five days.
Conservative MPS had already been told to cancel plans to travel back to their constituencies so that Mrs May could hold a vote tomorrow if she believed she could win.
The Government also tabled a motion which would enable Parliament to sit tomorrow, originally scheduled as a non-sitting day.
But Mr Bercow took No10 by surprise with an unscheduled statement to the Commons, saying: “I understand the Government may be thinking about bringing a third meaningful vote before the House either tomorrow or even on Friday, if the House opts to sit that day.
“Therefore, in order there should be no misunderstanding, I wish to make clear that I do expect the Government to meet the test of change.”
Mr Bercow was referring to his previous ruling, which was based on a 17th century convention that says the same motion cannot be voted on twice in the same Parliamentary session, meaning the deal on offer would have to be “substantially” different from the last time it was defeated.
Downing Street had hoped to get around the ruling by asking MPS to vote on setting aside his decision before holding a third vote, but Mr Bercow made clear he would not allow any such tactic to be used.
He said: “They should not seek to circumvent my ruling by means of tabling either a notwithstanding or a paving motion. The tabling office has been instructed no such motion would be accepted.”
Responding to Mr Bercow’s statement, a government source said outside the Commons chamber that the Speaker was “making it up as he goes along”.
Mr Bercow, who voted Remain, has been accused in the past of using his considerable powers selectively in order to frustrate the Government’s Brexit plans.
Nikki da Costa, the former Downing Street director of legislative affairs, described the Speaker’s latest intervention as an “extraordinary and extremely inflammatory” move “in a long series of inflammatory actions” by him.
Whitehall sources said several options were being considered, including proroguing Parliament, which would mean asking the Queen to end the current session early.
A new Parliamentary session could then be started within a week, cancelling the Speaker’s ruling and enabling MPS to vote on Mrs May’s deal once again.
A senior Whitehall source said: “Proroguing Parliament and starting a new session can be done in five days. It’s one of the options open to us.”
The Prime Minister could also simply table a vote on her deal in the expectation that Mr Bercow would allow it, based on that fact that the European Union has accepted changes to the political declaration attached to the Withdrawal Agreement.
‘In order there should be no misunderstanding ... I do expect the Government to meet the test of change’