WHOOPEE! MPS ON HOLIDAY AGAIN

Cheers in the House as they get an 11-day break — after Tusk warns of wasting time

WITH Britain stuck in Brexit limbo, MPs certainly have no shortage of work to do.

Yesterday, however, some of them seemed to have other things on their minds as they cheered after being given an 11-day holiday. Commons leader Andrea Leadsom announced Parliament would break up for recess until April 23.

Theresa May, who is expected to have some time off next week, urged MPs to ‘use the opportunity’ to ‘reflect on the decisions that will have to be made swiftly on our return’.

In the early hours yesterday at a summit in Brussels, EU leaders gave the Prime Minister until october 31 to pass a deal.

After the meeting, European Council president donald Tusk pleaded: ‘Please do not waste this time.’

However, MPs are due to have four recess periods lasting 82 days between now and the new deadline.

Campaigners accused Parliament of ‘sitting on its hands’ for choosing to go ahead with the Easter break.

Mrs Leadsom was cheered by backbenchers as she told them they would get a holiday. She said: ‘I can confirm that subject to the agreement of the House, the House will rise at the close of business today, and return on Tuesday April 23.’

After returning from Brussels, Mrs May insisted she wanted the country to leave the EU ‘as soon as possible’.

Speaking in the Commons chamber, she said: ‘This whole debate is putting members on all sides of the House under immense pressure and causing uncertainty across the country, and we need to resolve this.

‘So let us use the opportunity of the recess to reflect on the decisions that will have to be made swiftly on our return.

‘And let us then resolve to find a way through this impasse so that we can leave the European Union with a deal as soon as possible.’

Tory MP Charles Walker asked Mrs May: ‘Will she join the rest of the House in having a few days off next week?’

He added: ‘And before she leaves this place tonight, can she suggest to the Chief Whip that he has a few solid 12-hour sleeps as well?’

She replied: ‘I am sure everybody across this House is looking forward to being able to take some time away from this chamber, and I will certainly pass on his request to the Chief Whip.’

downing Street yesterday refused to comment on whether the Prime Minister plans to take a break herself.

Mrs May and her husband Philip famously went on a walking holiday in Wales during the Easter recess in 2017, before returning to Westminster and calling the snap election.

Asked how MPs should spend their time off, a Number 10 spokesman said: ‘People could use a break... everybody should take a break in the way they feel most appropriate.’

The Commons will only sit for three days in the week when MPs come back because of the Easter Bank Holiday.

Tory MPs have been told they must be present on Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24, but can be absent on Thursday 25, with the House not sitting on the Friday.

Get Britain out, a pro-Brexit campaign group, criticised the decision to go ahead with the Easter recess. A spokesman said: ‘So MPs might be about to go on their Easter holidays for a week or more, in the middle of a time when they are meant to be resolving Brexit.

‘These Remainer MPs are happy to just sit on their hands and wait until october for another extension to kick the can down the road.’

Labour MP Lilian Greenwood responded to criticism on Twitter, writing: ‘I’m pretty sure that people suffering fatigue have impaired decision-making. Rest, time with our families & in our constituencies will not be a waste of time!’

Earlier this year, plans to force MPs to work on Brexit during their February half-term recess descended into farce after they moaned about having to cancel their ski trips.

Mrs Leadsom had announced that Parliament would effectively cancel the ten-day break to help push through legislation.

But following an outcry from MPs, who often use the break to hit the slopes, the Government quickly relented.

despite the precarious state of Brexit negotiations, Chief Whip Julian Smith emailed all Tory MPs to say anyone who had booked a trip could still go.

Comment – Page 18

‘Kicking the can down the road’