THE BREXIT BETRAYAL
On day we should have left EU, Corbyn conspires with hard Brexiteers to block deal AGAIN, plunging Britain into chaos ... and a looming general election
Britain was in political paralysis last night after Jeremy Corbyn allied with hardline Eurosceptics to block Brexit. on the day the UK was meant to leave the Eu, MPs threw out Theresa May’s withdrawal deal by 344 votes to 286 – wrecking hopes of an orderly departure.
Britain faces having to hold European Parliament elections in May – almost three years after the referendum.
Mrs May even said a general election might be needed to break the deadlock, telling the Commons: ‘i fear we are reaching the limits of the process in this House.’ Her solicitor general robert Buckland said: ‘The prospect of no Brexit is becoming a very real one indeed.’
Mr Corbyn yesterday ordered his MPs to vote against a stripped-down version of Mrs May’s exit plan, which Labour had previously indicated it could accept.
immediately following the Government’s defeat, the Labour leader called for an election – without offering any solution to resolve the crisis.
Thirty- four Tory rebels, including 28 Brexit hardliners dubbed the spartans, also voted to reject the withdrawal agreement. Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said: ‘Labour
just voted against Brexit on Brexit Day. Whatever they say, they don’t want us to leave the EU. Labour’s promise to honour the referendum result lies in tatters.’
Government sources suggested Mrs May’s plan could be put to MPs for a fourth time next week – possibly in a ‘run-off’ against a soft Brexit option, such as a customs union.
However, Speaker John Bercow has ruled against repeated votes on the same matter.
As supporters of Brexit rallied in Parliament Square:
Mrs May confirmed publicly that she would leave Downing Street ‘earlier than I intended’ in a bid to heal Tory divisions;
Ministers prepared to ask the EU for a further delay to Brexit at an emergency Brussels summit on April 10;
Tory leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab dropped their opposition and voted for the withdrawal agreement;
A cross-party group of MPs led by Sir Oliver Letwin and Yvette Cooper said they would try to persuade Parliament to back a soft Brexit on Monday;
The European Commission said a No Deal Brexit was now a ‘likely’ scenario;
The DUP’s deputy leader Nigel Dodds said he would rather remain in the EU than risk the break-up of the United Kingdom.
Mrs May yesterday dropped the political declaration element of her exit package and let MPs vote only on the withdrawal agreement, which includes the divorce bill, 21month transition period, protections for citizens’ rights and the Irish backstop.
Opening the debate, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said Labour had ‘not emitted a peep of disagreement with a single clause or article of that agreement, and their position today is that they intend to vote it down. What kind of cynicism is that?’
Mr Corbyn said Labour would never support a ‘blind Brexit’ shorn of the political declaration that sets out a vision for the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
Ahead of the vote, the pro-Corbyn Momentum group suggested MPs could face deselection if they backed the withdrawal agreement, saying: ‘After years of botched negotiations, it’s time for all Labour MPs to reject May’s abysmal deal once and for all. Any Labour MP voting for a deal that leaves us with an uncertain future is undeserving of being a Labour MP.’
Only five Labour MPs voted with the Government.
The 34 Conservative MPs who voted against the exit plan included hardliners from the European Research Group, such as former ministers Steve Baker, Priti Patel and Owen Paterson. They were joined by Remainers including Dominic Grieve and Justine Greening.
Mr Baker said: ‘I regret to say it is time for Theresa May to follow through on her words and make way so that a new leader can deliver a withdrawal agreement which will be passed by Parliament.’
Michael Fabricant, one of 40 Eurosceptic Tories to switch sides and back Mrs May, said: ‘If Brexiteers think that a victory has been won, because Remainers and Labour voted down the deal, think again.
‘On Monday, the Remainer Parliament will try to keep us in the customs union which means our obeying EU legislation and having no say in making it.’
Mrs May said the result ‘ would mean at least a delay and perhaps destroy Brexit’.
On Monday, Sir Oliver will lead a fresh series of ‘indicative votes’ on Brexit alternatives. If he can build a consensus around a soft Brexit option, such as membership of the single market and customs union, Parliament could order Mrs May to pursue it. Remainer ministers, including Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke, were last night urging Mrs May to embrace a customs union policy.
One Cabinet minister told the Mail they believed the UK would end up in a customs union. ‘I just can’t see what the alternatives are,’ said the source.
‘The customs union vote is close and there are a lot of people in Cabinet pushing for it.’
Treasury Chief Secretary Liz Truss has told MPs Mrs May should ‘play hard ball’ and push for No Deal – by refusing to lay the regulations for the European elections.
Mr Raab called on ministers to step up preparations for No Deal.
Government sources last night insisted Mrs May’s plan was not dead, pointing out that it was defeated by ‘only’ 58 votes – down from 149 earlier this month and 230 in January.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has been deployed to try to build bridges with the DUP, whose ten MPs are seen as critical to any chance of the withdrawal agreement passing.
But Mr Dodds insisted: ‘I would stay in the European Union and remain, rather than risk Northern Ireland’s position. That’s how strongly I feel about the union.’
ONCE again, the House of Commons was given the chance to rise to the occasion and vote, in the national interest, for Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement.
And entirely unsurprisingly, the current crop of political mediocrities failed miserably. Instead of honouring the explicit will of the public and guaranteeing Brexit, MPs disdainfully threw it back in their faces.
On the day Britain was supposed to leave the EU, finally regaining sovereignty from the Brussels bloc’s stifling clutches, our arrogant representatives hammered another nail into Brexit’s coffin – a shameful betrayal of the British people.
Insulated in their Westminster bubble, are they incapable of grasping that their refusal to bow to the common good is destroying faith in democracy, turning the country into a humiliating international joke? What a shabby bunch of wreckers!
Mrs May’s deal, while imperfect, was a chance for an orderly departure, taking back control of our money, laws and borders. The UK would leave on May 22, giving Parliament the opportunity to work out the precise configuration of our future relationship with the EU.
It would have been a blessed relief for millions of Britons whose homes, jobs and businesses depend on stability.
They feel nothing but contempt for the ideologically narcissistic MPs who play political parlour games while ignoring the serious problems afflicting Britain, such as spiralling knife crime and the creaking NHS.
But – true to form – the politicians spurned the opportunity, inflicting a painful defeat on the Prime Minister and plunging the nation further into turmoil and uncertainty.
Increasingly, the unpalatable options are an exit delay of up to two years with punishing EU conditions attached (including the absurdity of staging costly European elections), a candyfloss- soft Brexit… or not leaving at all. Talk about a democratic catastrophe!
And the culprits? Some blame must be attached to the gaggle of irreconcilable Brexiteers, mule-headed to the last. Do they not realise that Mrs May’s promise to leave with No Deal is ancient history?
But to see who really left Brexit on lifesupport, look no further than the Labour Party. When the nation was crying out for common sense and pragmatism, up pops Jeremy Corbyn, displaying tediously familiar sectarian small-mindedness.
Truly, the irascible Labour leader is second to no one when it comes to naked political opportunism. With unparalleled irony, he accused Mrs May of ‘playing roulette’ with the country’s future, and ordered his MPs to vote against the deal.
Yet Labour’s high command has repeatedly insisted it has no issue with the withdrawal agreement. Just this week shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said he accepted it, emitting not a peep of disagreement. The cynicism is breath-taking!
Mr Corbyn’s only Brexit strategy is generating anarchy in a bid to topple the Government and force a General Election.
Contemptuously disregarding the wishes of 17.4million who voted to quit the EU, 234 Labour MPs – many representing overwhelmingly Leave seats – trooped through the ‘No’ lobby. Surely the moderates must know, deep down, Mr Corbyn is singularly unfit to run the country?
Frequently they opine how they couldn’t, in all conscience, vote to make their constituents poorer. What on earth do they think will happen if the lifelong Marxist gets his hands on the levers of power?
His fanatical hard-Left clique, comprising cranks, Jew- haters and conspiracy theorists, would drive the economy into a ditch and jeopardise national security.
If MPs get a final chance to vote on Mrs May’s deal, they must mull over the prospect of Britain suffering such an abysmal fate – and back her. The alternative is almost too grim to contemplate.