THE HOUSE OF FOOLS
They vowed to deliver the Brexit Britain voted for – and had it in their grasp. But last night contemptuous MPs chose instead to plunge our despairing nation into chaos
MPs plunged Britain into chaos by rejecting Theresa May’s Brexit plan for a second time last night.
With just 17 days until the UK is scheduled to leave the EU, hardline Eurosceptics sided with Labour to inflict a crushing 149-vote defeat on the Prime Minister.
A delay to the March 29 departure date is now almost certain. Mrs May will ask MPs to vote today on whether they want to block a No Deal Brexit, but her massive defeat also opens the door to drastic options such as a general election or second referendum.
Amid speculation about how long she can survive in Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s aides insisted she had not considered resigning. Boris Johnson is among leadership candidates sizing up their chances.
Mrs May is giving her MPs a free vote on No Deal – allowing members of the Cabinet to take different sides on what until now has been a matter of Government policy. She admitted
she had ‘struggled’ with the question of No Deal herself, and sources suggested she would join Remainer ministers and vote against it tonight. As many as 18 ministers had threatened to resign over the issue.
A Tory source said Mrs May was ‘quite clear about how damaging leaving without a deal would be’ during yesterday’s meeting of the Cabinet. On a day of drama in Westminster: Ministers said they would publish further details of No Deal planning, including slashing tariffs by 90 per cent;
Some 38 Eurosceptic MPs, led by former Brexit secretary David Davis, switched sides to back the deal, saying they feared the UK’s exit was in peril;
Just three Labour MPs backed the Prime Minister, despite a package of concessions and a £1.6billion fund for ‘left behind’ towns;
Eurosceptic MPs last night appeared to accept a Brexit delay was inevitable, with Jacob Rees-Mogg backing an amendment that would extend Article 50 until May 23, at which point the UK would leave without a deal;
Charles Walker, vice-chairman of the
‘Softening her red lines’
Tory 1922 Committee, said the chaos could spark an election;
Former foreign secretary Mr Johnson tried to burnish his Eurosceptic credentials by embracing No Deal;
EU negotiator Michel Barnier warned MPs there would be no transition period without an agreement;
Mrs May hinted she could put her plan to MPs a third time, saying it was ‘the best and only deal available’.
If, as expected, No Deal is rejected, MPs will vote tomorrow on whether to request an extension of Article 50, delaying Brexit beyond March 29.
The PM warned that Parliament faced a series of ‘unenviable choices’ that could lead to the EU demanding a soft Brexit or even a second referendum as the price of what could be a lengthy delay.
With her voice struggling under a heavy cold and her husband Philip looking on, Mrs May opened yesterday’s debate by appealing to MPs to back her ‘improved deal’ or ‘risk no Brexit at all’.
But she had already been dealt a hammer blow by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, who warned that the package of concessions she secured from the EU this week did not resolve his concerns about the Irish backstop.
He said the concessions would only ‘reduce the risk’ of Britain being trapped in a customs union if trade talks broke down. Mr Cox said there were ‘ no internationally lawful means’ of leaving unilaterally.
His refusal to change his legal advice dismayed May loyalists. One minister said: ‘Cox completely ****ed up. His language was completely injudicious – people will judge for themselves whether that was deliberate or not.’
Mr Cox’s advice led a number of wavering MPs to harden their opposition to the PM’s plan. Its fate was sealed when Mrs May’s DUP allies confirmed they remained opposed to the deal, which they believe would drive a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
The Prime Minister’s plan was defeated by 391 votes to 242. Although an improvement on the record 230-vote defeat in January, it still represents one of the heaviest losses suffered by any government.
EU president Donald Tusk last night warned that the Commons vote had ‘significantly increased the chance of No Deal’ – and suggested Brussels would impose conditions on any delay, including demanding a softening of Mrs May’s red lines such as ending free movement.
‘The EU will expect a credible justification for a possible extension,’ he said. Speculation was also mounting last night that Mrs May could be forced to call an election within weeks, or face a Cabinet coup.
Former minister Nicky Morgan said: ‘If Parliament does start to dismantle her strategy that makes her position very difficult and that’s a conversation that the Cabinet will want to have with the PM about how long she wants to go on for.’
Remainer MPs, including former Tory minister Nick Boles, warned yesterday they would try to exploit the power vacuum by seizing control of the House of Commons agenda and forcing the PM to pursue a soft Brexit.
Business leaders accused MPs of playing games and called for No Deal to be taken off the table today.
WAS this the moment Brexit died? After the profoundly depressing events of yesterday, it is most certainly teetering on the brink.
Charged with executing the largest mandate in British political history, our pygmy Parliamentarians failed the voters in the most abject fashion.
An honourable and viable EU withdrawal deal was offered to them on a plate. A deal which would have satisfied the key demands of the referendum and ended the stasis and confusion paralysing our nation.
Instead of grabbing it, they have knowingly and wantonly plunged the nation into a vortex of uncertainty.
Have these prima donnas any idea of the contempt in which they are held among the ordinary people of this country?
Public faith in British democracy was already at a dangerously low ebb. After yesterday’s antics, it is languishing in the gutter – and the implications for all the mainstream parties are truly grave.
This defeat – by a 149 majority – was a stinging humiliation for Theresa May. She has worked tirelessly to drag her deal over the line, and the strain is showing. At the dispatch box she looked drawn and sleep-deprived, her eyes dark-ringed, her voice hoarse and weak.
If only her fellow MPs displayed even a fraction of her unflagging dedication to public service. Instead, all they can do is carp.
Many must shoulder responsibility for this debacle. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox should certainly have been less doom-laden with his initial verdict on the backstop changes.
Having first said the legal position hadn’t changed since the last time the deal was defeated, he then went on to explain in some detail how much better it was. But by then it was too late. The damage was done.
The Democratic Unionists, wielding far more influence than they merit by virtue of holding the balance of power in a hung Parliament, abused that power by trashing the May plan.
Do they really think they would get a better deal under Jeremy Corbyn? If he had his way, the six counties would be ceded to Dublin. And speaking of Mr Corbyn, what an absurd and contradictory position Labour has placed itself in.
Do they want to leave the EU at all? Do they back a ‘People’s Vote’? Do they really believe Brussels will give them all the benefits of membership with none of the obligations? Sad to say, this once proud party is now a sick joke.
But the most egregious of all the saboteurs are the Tory fifth- columnists in the European Research Group – now behaving like a party within a party.
They present themselves as the guardians of a pure Brexit. But the supreme irony is that, by their hubris and arrogance, they may have achieved exactly the thing they fear most.
No one can accurately predict the fall-out from yesterday’s explosion but the overwhelming likelihood is that Brexit will be at best diluted, possibly even consigned to the dustbin of history.
If it is, the ERG will be directly responsible. In the process, they have blithely thrown their party and their country into the hazard. They will not easily be forgiven. So now we take a leap into the dark. Today there will be a vote to take No Deal off the table, tomorrow a further vote calling on the EU to push back the withdrawal deadline – to a time of their choosing. After that, who knows? Permanent customs union? Second referendum? Norway fudge? Brexit cancelled? All are theoretically possible and all are infinitely worse than the May deal.
This was a black day for British democracy. No one can yet say what demons it may unleash. But we do know who to blame.