Setback for May in last-gasp Brexit vote bid
EU leader says there is no room to re-write her deal
THERESA MAY’S hopes of winning concessions which could persuade MPs to back her Brexit deal were dealt a blow after a senior Brussels figure warned there was “no room whatsoever for renegotiation” of the agreement already reached between the UK and European Union.
As the Prime Minister embarked on a whirlwind tour of European capitals to seek reassurances to get her deal through Parliament, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told MEPs yesterday that it was the “best deal possible” and the “only deal possible”.
But he offered a glimmer of hope to Mrs May following her decision to delay the Commons vote on her deal by saying there was room to give “further clarifications and further interpretations without opening the Withdrawal Agreement”.
His comments came amid growing calls from opposition parties for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to table a motion of no confidence in Mrs May and rumours of new letters of no confidence being submitted by her own Conservative MPs.
The delay to the so-called “meaningful vote” by MPs, which had been due to take place last night, means that ratification may not be possible until as late as 10 weeks before the scheduled date of Brexit on March 29.
But Mrs May’s spokesman insisted she continued to believe that necessary preparations can be completed within that time.
Downing Street described talks with Mr Rutte as “constructive” and said the leaders agreed “to work together to find a way through”, while in Berlin Mrs May and Mrs Merkel agreed to “keep in close touch on this in order to get the deal over the line”.
Mrs May’s predecessor as Conservative PM, Sir John Major, called for an immediate halt to the two-year Article 50 process leading to UK withdrawal from the EU declaring: “The clock must be stopped.”
Speaking in Dublin, he warned that any return of a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic risked reviving memories of the worst days of the Troubles.
And Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dail Parliament in Dublin that the UK had the power to avoid a no-deal Brexit by revoking or extending Article 50.
“While there may not be a majority for anything or at least any deal at the moment in the House of Commons, I do believe that there is a majority that the UK should not be plunged into a nodeal scenario,” said Mr Varadkar.
“It is in their hands at any point in time to take the threat of nodeal off the table, either by revoking Article 50 or, if that is a step too far, by extending it.”
Mrs May’s decision to defer the Brexit vote was condemned yesterday by the opposition as well as a number of Tories.
Leading Conservative Brexiteer Steve Baker said that PM had a “duty” to stand down in order for a new leader to deliver EU withdrawal.”
THERESA MAY has brushed aside speculation of an impending vote of no confidence in her as Prime Minister, insisting she is focused on securing reassurances from EU leaders about her Brexit deal.
After calling off a parliamentary vote on the deal planned for Tuesday, Mrs May has spent the day in talks with fellow leaders including Germany’s Angela Merkel and Mark Rutte of the Netherlands.
She said she had found a “shared determination” to address MPs’ concerns about the proposed backstop arrangement for the Irish border, in order to allow the deal to be brought back to the House of Commons and ratified.
Downing Street announced that the motion on the Brexit deal will come back to the Commons “before January 21”, with MPs expected to complete the final two days of debate before the momentous vote.
But Mrs May’s decision to delay the vote sparked a fresh wave of speculation at Westminster about new letters of no confidence being submitted by Conservative MPs to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.
After reports that some members of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs were claiming that enough letters had been submitted to trigger a vote, Mrs May was asked whether she had been told the threshold of 48 letters had been reached.
She replied: “No, I have been here in Europe dealing with the issue I have promised Parliament I would be dealing with.”
Mrs May said: “Whatever outcome we want, whatever relationship we want with the European
Union in future, there is no deal available that doesn’t have a backstop within it.
“But we don’t want the backstop to be used and if it is, we want to be certain it is only temporary.
“It is those assurances that I will be seeking from fellow leaders over the coming days.”
Mrs May held breakfast talks with Mr Rutte before flying to Berlin for lunch with Mrs Merkel and then on to Brussels to speak with European Council President Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Mr Tusk described their meeting as “long and frank”, adding: “Clear that EU27 wants to help. The question is how.”
At Westminster, the Tory chair of the Treasury Select Committee warned yesterday that if the Government cannot sort out Brexit, Parliament “must step in, must stop posturing and actually get down to work to hammer out a deal”.
Nicky Morgan floated the idea of a government of national unity or a free vote as she urged MPs to “build a consensus”.
Speaking during the Commons emergency debate on the Government’s management of the meaningful vote debate, she warned of the public perception and election consequences of the current parliamentary impasse over Brexit.
Labour chairman of the Brexit select committee, Leeds MP Hilary Benn, said there were two broad choices, including applying to the European Economic Area and a customs union, or holding a second EU referendum.
The UK, he said, needed to apply for an extension of Article 50, arguing the sooner no-deal was taken off the table the better for businesses.
He said: “We are running out of time, that’s why the Prime Minister needs to come back here next week and give us a chance to vote on her deal, because the sooner the House can pass judgment upon it and if it is defeated, the sooner we can get on to the task we will then now face.
“Only when we’ve done that can we face up to the hard choices in which I’ve said to the House before, all of us in this chamber are going to have to compromise if we are going to find a way through the mess that our country is now in.”
Laughter briefly filled the Commons chamber during the emergency debate on the delay to the Brexit vote as Santa fleetingly appeared behind the Speaker’s chair.