Brexit: MPs vote to take control
Parliament seized control of Brexit from Theresa May yesterday by backing a plan to hold votes on alternatives to her deal.
MPs voted by 329 to 302 in favour of a plot by Remain-supporting MPs for a temporary takeover of the Commons that will enable them to decide on their own way forward.
It means MPs will vote tomorrow on options such as staying in a customs union or single market, holding a second referendum or even revoking Article 50.
The prime minister will be powerless to stop the votes going ahead, and if she tries to resist the outcome, Parliament could overrule her again by tabling its own Brexit Bill.
May had told MPs a ‘‘slow Brexit’’ was the only alternative to her deal as she refused to give up on getting her Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons. She cancelled plans for a third ‘‘meaningful vote’’ today, admitting she did not have enough support, but also infuriated Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers by suggesting that a no-deal Brexit was no longer a viable outcome.
May had tried to head off a plan by Remainers, led by Tory Sir Oliver Letwin, to hold a series of so-called indicative votes later this week on the best way to break the Brexit deadlock.
She promised that MPs would be given time to debate alternatives to her deal this week, while reserving the right to ignore their recommendation because she could not sign a ‘‘blank cheque’’ over the future of Brexit.
However, her pleas fell on deaf ears as Letwin’s amendment, tabled jointly with Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, and Hilary Benn, the Labour MP, was passed. Letwin proposed a series of votes, beginning with a ‘‘plain vanilla’’ vote on MPs’ first preferences, but warned compromises would have to be made, because: ‘‘If we all vote for that which is our first preference, I think we almost know that we will never get to a majority solution.’’
He said that once the most popular solutions were identified, Parliament could ‘‘zero in on something’’ that could secure a majority.
Minutes before the vote, Richard Harrington, a business minister, resigned from his post to vote against the Government. The Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt and health minister Steve Brine were also expected to resign after they voted against the Government.
May said she was ‘‘sceptical’’ of any one vote commanding a majority and made it clear the outcome would not be legally binding, provoking an outcry from Remain-supporting MPs.
She said: ‘‘No government could give a blank cheque to commit to an outcome without knowing what it is. So I cannot commit the Government to delivering the outcome of any votes held by this House. But I do commit to engaging constructively with this process.’’
Britain will leave the EU on May 22 if May’s deal is passed before the end of this week. If the deal is not approved, the UK will leave without a deal on April 12 unless the PM asks for a longer extension from the EU.
Grieve described Brexit as a ‘‘historic mistake of very great proportions’’.