IS BRITAIN PLUNGING INTO YET ANOTHER ELECTION?
May’s new defeat as MPs grab control of Brexit ++ Three ministers quit ++ So will hardliners NOW back her deal?
Britain could face a third general election in four years after MPs seized control of Brexit.
They voted by 329 to 302 last night to take the process out of Theresa May’s hands.
The amendment from Oliver Letwin of the Tories and Yvette Cooper of Labour could lead to MPs forcing the Prime Minister to pursue a soft Brexit – or even cancel it altogether.
Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt, health minister Steve Brine and business minister Richard Harrington all quit to help put Parliament in the driving seat. In a blistering resignation letter, Mr Harrington accused Mrs May of ‘playing roulette with the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of people in this country’.
Senior ministers ‘war-gamed’ scenarios including calling an election three years early and the
Prime Minister appeared to hint that one might be needed to break the deadlock. She told MPs she was not prepared to push through a soft Brexit even if they voted for one. She had been forced to abandon plans to put her withdrawal agreement before the Commons for a third time today after DUP leader Arlene Foster maintained her opposition.
The Letwin-Cooper amendment was backed by 29 rebel Tories. It lets MPs hold ‘indicative votes’ tomorrow on options – including revocation of Article 50 – which Mrs May would then be told to deliver.
As No 10 warned the move set a ‘dangerous and unpredictable’ precedent:
Jacob Rees-Mogg gave Mrs May a glimmer of hope by telling a private meeting of Eurosceptic MPs that he would vote for her plan provided the DUP came on board;
Penny Mordaunt warned fellow Cabinet ministers that the Government could face an outbreak of French-style ‘gilet jaune’ protests if it failed to deliver Brexit;
Former Cabinet minister John Whittingdale became the most senior Tory to warn publicly that he would back Mrs May only if she agreed to set out a timetable for her own departure;
Mrs May sparked a backlash from Eurosceptic Tories by warning of a ‘slow Brexit’ if her plan is rejected again – and appearing to rule out No Deal;
The Prime Minister voiced regret for her attack last week on ‘game-playing’ MPs;
Downing Street said that the Commons would be asked to vote tomorrow on whether to change the law to extend the UK’s exit date until at least April 12.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told a meeting of the Cabinet that failure to pass Mrs May’s plan in the coming weeks would almost inevitably lead to an election.
Writing in the Daily Mail, he today makes a last- ditch appeal to hardline Leavers to get behind Mrs May – or face losing Brexit altogether.
Two weeks ago his legal advice led many Tory MPs to reject the withdrawal agreement because of fears the UK could remain in the Irish border backstop.
At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay repeated his weekend warning that an election would be the logical conclusion of the Government losing control over the Brexit proceven ess. Fellow ministers Liam Fox, Andrea Leadsom and Alun Cairns also warned that they believed an election was increasingly likely.
One source said: ‘If we lose control of the process then we are heading for an election.
‘We’ll either lose a confidence vote – in which case you could get Corbyn without an election – or we will be forced to go for an election ourselves.’
Another source said: ‘It’s not just scaremongering, it’s the only way out of this.’
A Downing Street spokesman said that Mrs May was opposed to a general election.
But a senior Tory source acknowledged it was a growing possibility, adding: ‘The reason the Cabinet is so determined to get this deal through is that there is a full understanding that the alternatives are pretty grim.’
Mrs May told yesterday’s emergency Cabinet meeting that she hoped to put her agreement to the vote for a third time today. But the move was vetoed by the DUP, whose support is seen as critical in persuading Eurosceptic Tories to fall in line. The Prime Minister told MPs: ‘ With great regret I have had to conclude that as things stand, there is still not sufficient support in the House to bring back a third meaningful vote.’
Mrs May’s deputy David Lidington last night said the Government still hoped to hold a vote this week. But the DUP appeared to be digging in.
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds rounded angrily on Mrs May in the Commons yesterday after she said more time was needed to prepare Northern Ireland for the possibility of No Deal.
Mr Dodds said the Government was entirely responsible for what he described as a fundamental lack of preparation.
Plans for the Government to put forward its own proposals for indicative votes were dropped ahead of yesterday’s meeting. Many ministers, including Dr Fox, Chris Grayling, Gavin Williamson and Mrs Leadsom, are opposed to the process.
‘Unreconciled forces’
NEWS that the Cabinet is war-gaming general election scenarios will surely be greeted by millions of Britons with an anguished groan of despair.
If the excruciating Brexit deadlock cannot be broken, it could be the fourth time in five years the country trudges to the polls.
To echo Brenda from Bristol, whose outburst summed up the mood of the nation when Theresa May called a snap election in 2017: ‘Not another one!’
After the expenses scandal a decade ago, when conceited MPs rapaciously – and often illegally – squandered taxpayers’ money on themselves, it seemed inconceivable that Parliament could be held in lower esteem.
But our puffed-up politicians’ failure to fulfil the explicit will of the people and extricate Britain from the EU has fuelled deeper anger, frustration and contempt. With a half-competent bunch, we would leave the wallowing bloc in three days.
Mrs May’s deal, while imperfect, is not the worst imaginable. Britain regains sovereignty over borders, money and laws. But it seems that if hardline Tory Brexiteers and the obstinate DUP can’t have the whole cake, they’d rather have none.
It has been mooted that the Prime Minister could offer to step down in return for their votes pushing the agreement over the line.
Might she conclude it would be the crowning achievement of her Premiership, securing her legacy as a dedicated public servant with an unwavering sense of duty, who sacrifices self-interest and party politics for the national good? Presently, it’s immaterial – she hasn’t got the numbers.
But if, after last night’s vote, a cross-party alliance of Remain-supporting MPs seizes control of the Brexit agenda, the divorce deal will only get softer – most likely a customs union, which would destroy the economic case for leaving and see the UK in permanent rule-taking subjugation.
The equally unappealing alternative is that general election. An aghast public, fed up with being invited to the ballot box, could easily punish the squabbling Tories, letting Jeremy Corbyn and his motley band of Marxists, anti-Semites, IRA supporters and cranks into Downing Street to destroy the economy and our security.
For the Brexiteers, the ship is finally sailing. If they don’t get on board, they risk losing the deal, the Government and their country. It could not be more imperative that they come to their senses.