PRIME MINISTER’S BREXIT WARNING
PARLIAMENT MORE LIKELY TO BLOCK BRITAIN LEAVING EU THAN ALLOW NO-DEAL, SAYS MAY DONALDSON: THOSE PLOTTING TO OVERTURN REFERENDUM RESULT ARE ‘IN DANGEROUS TERRITORY’
PARLIAMENT is more likely to block Brexit than allow Britain to crash out of the EU without a deal, Theresa May will warn as she delivers a rallying cry to MPs to back her withdrawal agreement.
The Prime Minister will today use a speech to factory workers in Stoke-on-Trent, on the eve of the critical Commons vote on her exit plan, to ask MPs to consider the “consequences” of their actions on the faith of British people in democracy.
She will warn that trust in politicians will suffer “catastrophic harm” if they fail to implement the result of the referendum.
With just a day to go until the long-awaited vote, Mrs May is expected to say: “I ask MPs to consider the consequences of their actions on the faith of the British people in our democracy.
“Imagine if an anti-devolution House of Commons had said to the people of Scotland or Wales that despite voting in favour of a devolved legislature, Parliament knew better and would overrule them. Or else force them to vote again.
“What if we found ourselves in a situation where Parliament tried to take the UK out of the EU in opposition to a Remain vote? People’s faith in the democratic process and their politicians would suffer catastrophic harm. We all have a duty to implement the result of the referendum.”
The Prime Minister will say that while the two sides in the 2016 referendum disagreed on many things, they were united on one thing — that “what the British people decided, the politicians would implement”.
“On the rare occasions when Parliament puts a question to the British people directly we have always understood that their response carries a profound significance,” Mrs May will say. “When the people of Wales voted by a margin of 0.3%, on a turnout of just over 50%, to endorse the creation of the Welsh Assembly, that result was accepted by both sides and the popular legitimacy of that institution has never seriously been questioned.
“Parliament understood this fact when it voted overwhelm- ingly to trigger Article 50. And both major parties did so too when they stood on election manifestos in 2017 that pledged to honour the result of the referendum.”
Yesterday Jeremy Corbyn warned that Mrs May faces a vote of no confidence in her Government “soon”.
The Labour leader said people should “see what happens” tomorrow, but told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “We will table a motion of no confidence in the Government at a time of our choosing, but it’s going to be soon, don’t worry about it.”
While Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said there had been “some movement” from MPs to support the agreement, which is widely expected to be defeated, he said he thought that if it fell the Commons would eventually support something “along the lines of this deal”.
And he warned of a “growing risk” that Parliament could frustrate Brexit, following reports of a plot to change Commons rules to enable backbench motions to take precedence over Government business if Mrs May’s deal falls.
Downing Street said it was “extremely concerned” about the plans, reported in the Sunday Times, which could threaten Brexit legislation and the Government’s ability to govern.
Mr Barclay told Andrew Marr: “What recent events have shown, with events over the last week with what happened on the legal advice where the Government was forced to act in a way it didn’t want to, is the uncertainty in terms of what will happen in the House has increased.
“So those on the Brexiteer side seeking ideological purity with a deal are risking Brexit, because there is a growing risk that events could unfold in ways that (mean) they are leaving the door ajar to ways that increase the risk to Brexit.”