Fear of ‘no deal’ Brexit eases as Remainers second referendum’
THERESA MAY has seen off a threatened rebellion on Brexit with last-minute concessions which could give MPs a bigger say on the final withdrawal agreement and make a “nodeal” EU exit all but impossible.
The UK prime minister met pro-EU Tories in her private room in the Commons moments before the crucial vote to hear their demands for a truly meaningful vote on the final deal.
Senior Remainer Dominic Grieve said Mrs May promised to table amendments in the House of Lords which will address their concerns.
Moments later, MPs voted by 324 to 298 to reject a House of Lords amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill which would have given parliament the power to tell the PM to go back and renegotiate the Brexit deal she secures from Brussels.
Mr Grieve withdrew his own amendment, which would have given MPs powers to dictate what the government should do if no acceptable agreement is reached by February 2019.
The former attorney general said: “The prime minister agreed that the amendments we had tabled, and the issue that we had raised about parliament’s role in the event of no deal was an important one, and undertook to work with us to put together amendments to present in the Lords which would address those concerns.”
Parts of his amendment which he expects to be taken forward by ministers provide a mechanism by which parliament has to be consulted by the end of November in the event of no deal or if a proposed agreement is rejected, he said.
Government sources confirmed ministers will now discuss the possible incorporation of these elements of Mr Grieve’s proposals into the legislation.
The move represents a dramatic climbdown from Mrs May’s original plan to offer MPs a “take it or leave it” vote to accept the withdrawal agreement or leave the EU without a deal.
The prime minister is now expected to get through the latest round of crunch Brexit votes unscathed, with a po- tentially explosive clash over the customs union today already defused by a compromise amendment.
She won a succession of votes yesterday overturning Lords amendments, including one which would have removed the date of Brexit on March 29, 2019 from the text of the Bill.
But she faces a gruelling bout of “parliamentary pingpong” with the Lords, as the bill bounces back and forth between the two houses over the coming weeks.
The concession on a mean-
Vara, the Northern Ireland minister and Rachel Maclean, a parliamentary private secretary to the home secretary.
Mr Harrington and Ms Maclean denied having meetings or contact with Best For Britain.
Eloise Todd, chief executive of Best for Britain, said: “We have been speaking both to government ministers and opposition MPs to make our case and lobby them on Brexit.”
Mr Vara said: “I’m not thinking of resigning. I’m absolutely a solid Brexiteer and if there was a referendum now I would campaign to leave. I don’t agree with their campaign, the people of Britain made their voice absolutely clear.”
Mr Burt said that he had “absolutely no intention” of resigning over Brexit.
A spokesman for Ms MacLean said she had never spoken to Best for Britain or attended an event held by them, describing suggestions she could resign over Brexit as “utter rubbish”.
Mr Harrington issued a “categoric” denial that he had ever met anyone from Best for Britain and said he would not resign.
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Simon Coveney last night said there is a “huge amount of frustration” among EU negotiators “that more progress has not been made” on the Irish backstop.
Speaking in Munich, he welcomed political settlements in the House of Commons but warned “this can’t be Britain just negotiating with itself; the real negotiation has to happen between the British negotiating team and the EU negotiation team.”