Johnson edges towards victory as rebels hatch new plot
Every weapon in the prime ministerial arsenal is deployed to persuade MPS to back the Brexit deal
BORIS JOHNSON is within touching distance of getting Parliament to support his Brexit deal today after he won the backing of up to a dozen Labour MPS.
Mr Johnson said the nation would breathe “a great sigh of relief ” if a deal was finally passed, and called on Parliament to “do its duty”. He told MPS there was “no better outcome” than his deal.
Current estimates suggest up to 320 MPS are on board for the deal, with 312 against and around seven undecided.
However, Mr Johnson faces a lastditch attempt by Tory rebels and Labour to downgrade the vote’s status and force him to request an extension, even if the deal passes. If successful, today’s vote would be merely “indicative”, with no legal status, rather than the clean win the Prime Minister desires through a “meaningful” vote. There are fears an amendment could open the door to attempts to wreck legislation in the next fortnight. The Prime Minister spent yesterday personally calling MPS to plead for their support and Tory whips were optimistic that they would reach the 320 votes that guarantee victory.
Last night Mark Francois, deputy chair of the ERG, reportedly said he would back Mr Johnson’s deal.
Melanie Onn, MP for Leave-voting Grimsby, became the 11th Labour MP to confirm or indicate they would back the deal, cancelling out the 10 DUP MPS who are set to reject it. She said she had made her decision as “the risk of letting this final shot at a deal slip through our fingers is too great”.
The undecideds include Tory Brexiteers John Redwood and Owen Paterson; Labour MPS Stephen Kinnock and Gloria De Piero; the Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb and former Cabinet minister Amber Rudd.
Theresa Villiers, the Environment Secretary, was also understood to be undecided amid fears she may resign to vote against the deal. Tory whips are now counting on the support of 284 Tory MPS, 11 Labour MPS, 17 former Tories who lost the whip and eight independents, meaning they need just one more MP to back the deal for it to pass.
Among the promises made to Labour MPS for their support was a commitment that Brexit legislation due to be debated next week would contain increased protection of workers’ rights and environmental standards.
Several powerful businesses urged Parliament to back the deal, including Barclays Bank, Prudential, BAE Systems, Diageo and Linklaters.
MPS sit today on “Super Saturday”, the first time the Commons and Lords have been convened at the weekend since the Falklands war in 1982. A vote on the deal is expected by late afternoon.
Before he can win the “meaningful vote”, however, Mr Johnson must see off an attempt by a Remain Alliance to downgrade the status of the vote. Sir Oliver Letwin, the former Tory minister, has tabled an amendment which, if passed, would withhold support for the deal until all necessary legislation had gone through the Commons, meaning Brexit could be delayed. The amendment has the support of Labour and the Lib Dems, who want to delay Brexit and force a second referendum.
Sir Oliver insisted it was merely an “insurance policy” to ensure Britain cannot leave without a deal in the event that the legislation has not been passed, but there are fears it will be exploited to try to stop Brexit or make the deal conditional on a second referendum.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, signalled that the EU may not grant an extension even if Mr Johnson was forced to ask for one. He said: “I do not think we shall grant any further delay.”
Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach, said: “I don’t think any MP should make the assumption that there would be unanimity for an extension.”
Speaking a day after EU leaders agreed the deal, Mr Macron said of Mr Johnson: “He is sometimes colourful... but he is a leader with genuine strategic vision and those who did not take him seriously were wrong.”
Mr Johnson told ITV News: “I want colleagues on all sides of the House to think about a world tomorrow night in which we’ve got this thing done and we’ve got it over the line because I think the nation will heave a great sigh of relief.” In a BBC interview he said: “There’s no better outcome than the one I’m advocating… this has been a long, exhausting and quite divisive business, Brexit.” A Yougov poll yesterday showed 41 per cent of voters want the deal to pass, with 24 per cent opposed.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, who voted against Theresa May’s deal three times, says the deal delivers “what Brexit is all about”.
IT WAS the day Boris Johnson deployed dozens of ministers and a former leader, and then listened patiently to requests for new roads from wavering MPS in a final push to get his Brexit deal past the Commons.
Mr Johnson used every tool in his prime ministerial arsenal in his attempt to persuade 320 MPS to back his deal in the historic sitting of Parliament today.
The initiative, co-ordinated by Chief Whip Mark Spencer and the PM’S political secretary Danny Kruger, began with each of the Government’s whips contacting their individual flock of 30 MPS to see how they were planning to vote.
MPS who were still wavering were separated from those who were solidly behind the deal, and earmarked for further work.
One senior Tory said: “Those that say yes, they are left alone. Anyone who needs assurance or clarification is being love-bombed by the Prime Minister, or by the closest Cabinet minister to their thoughts.”
Senior backbenchers whose support could be used to sway others, like European Research Group vicechairman Mark Francois MP and Peter Bone MP, were invited for face-to-face meetings with Mr Johnson.
Steve Baker, the ERG chairman, gave his early cautious approval of the deal, but Mr Francois appeared to be having doubts before a 1pm meeting with the Prime Minister in Downing Street. A red-faced and frustrated Mr Francois told The Daily Telegraph:
“I’ve had better days.” Last night he said he would back the deal, according to Sky News.
ERG officers would make a recommendation at this morning’s 8.30am ERG meeting on whether members should back the deal, although Mr Francois had said the vote could still be split.
Mr Bone, a hardliner who is not a member of the ERG, met Mr Johnson in Downing Street last night, one of many invited to personally discuss their concerns.
Influential figures like former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson, the former Northern Ireland secretary, are also set to vote for it despite initial reservations.
Sir Bill Cash, the longest serving MP in the ERG and a member of the Commons’ European scrutiny committee for over 30 years, was given a special briefing on the detail by Government lawyers.
A source close to him suggested he too would support it although his similarly longstanding colleague John Redwood was having “to be talked down from the ceiling” over the deal.
Special arrangements were made for very influential waverers like Amber Rudd, the former Cabinet minister, who said she was “50/50 for and against PM’S deal”. She added: “I hope the PM can speak persuasively and make the case on behalf of the whole country tomorrow, not just the 52 per cent”.
Jeremy Hunt, the Tory leadership challenger who did not accept a job in Mr Johnson’s Government, was asked to win her round.
Former leaders were called in to help with the effort to get out the vote.
Mr Johnson spent 20 minutes speaking to his predecessor Theresa May to see if she could be persuaded to make an intervention. Lord Hague, who led the party from 1997 to 2001 and was foreign secretary in David Cameron’s government, was asked to do his bit by speaking to colleagues.
Sajid Javid, the Chancellor who spent Thursday night telephoning wavering MPS from Washington DC, put in more calls as soon as his flight landed in London.
Meanwhile, Priti Patel, the Brexiteer Home Secretary, was asked to focus on wavering Brexit hardliners.
Government whips used any means possible to win them round. Even MPS on the same select committee used that connection to put calls in to urge them to back the deal.
One No10 source said: “Where relationships exist they are being used to advocate for the deal.”
By late morning, sitting in his office in No10, Mr Johnson had compiled an A4 page full of numbers of MPS he had to call to win them round.
Westminster watchers were impressed with the effort. Mr Johnson’s No10 was making sure that Eurosceptics, known as Spartans because they held out three times against entreaties to back Mrs May’s deal, were being told in no uncertain terms that it was the PM’S deal, or no Brexit.
One whipping insider said: “It’s a tricky operation because on one hand we are telling Labour MPS is a case of deal or no deal and on the other we’re telling Spartans it’s a case of deal or no Brexit.”
Formerly staunch Brexiteers who had voted against Mrs May’s deal three times, including Andrea Jenkyns and Andrew Bridgen, had already said they will back the deal. But Downing Street has hoped more would come out in favour of the deal to build momentum behind Labour MPS contemplating defying their party whip to support the Government.
Attention turned to members of the group of whipless 20 former Tory MPS. One source said: “Boris has been love-bombing them all. It’s horrible having the whip removed so they do need to be shown some love. There’s been definite outreach from Downing Street all day.”
The whips’ offer was straightforward; they had to back today’s MV4 vote, as well as all stages of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill which needs to be passed by the end of this month and the Budget on Nov 6.
There was a carrot and stick approach. One Government source told The Telegraph: “You can certainly see them getting the whip back before Christmas if they keep going where they are going.”
But a senior Government source added: “The Chief Whip has said there’s a long ladder but the bottom rungs are on fire.”
Only former Chancellor Philip Hammond was “holding out” among the whipless 20. The source added: “No one seems to have the balls to tell him to get in line. He’s properly scary.” The stakes were high.
At lunchtime the Telegraph’s website broke the news that two Government ministers are on “resignation watch” over the deal. One other junior minister was considering their position. Any resignation would be a potentially fatal blow to get MPS to back the draft exit treaty.
By early afternoon one Government source said they felt they were still “one or two” vote short to win the day at today’s historic Saturday sitting. Number 10 redoubled their efforts to get the deal over the line.
The wooing of the Tory switchers continued as attempts were made to win over Labour MPS. Health secretary Matt Hancock and former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt, who Mr Johnson had sacked in July, were informally approaching Labour MPS to ask for their help.
Ms Mordaunt had started her outreach with Labour MPS weeks ago. One friend said: “She had direct contact with about 20, including contact pre-this deal. Her message has been that their constituents and the nation need us to get this done. They don’t have to like us or the PM, but I hope they recognise how critical this moment is.
“She is hopeful that they will show courage and do what is right. If they do, it will be vindication for Parliamentary democracy.”
Tory MPS were delighted when late on Thursday night Labour veteran Ronnie Campbell told BBC’S
Newsnight programme that he would back the deal.
“Keir Starmer is a 100 per cent Remainer,” he said, before turning his fire on Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran: “Why have another referendum when you didn’t take any notice of the first one?”
The hope in Number 10 was that the 50 Labour MPS in Leave seats would spend yesterday among their constituents being urged to vote for the deal and and return to the Commons today to back the deal.
One Tory said: “The crunch is for Labour MPS in strong Leave seats – they have got to start thinking this deal could be the only way to get
‘Those that say yes are left alone. Anyone who needs assurance is love-bombed by the Prime Minister’
‘The crunch is for Labour MPS in strong Leave seats. They have to start thinking that this deal could be the only way something gets done’
something done. If they come over the numbers are starting to look very tight indeed and could well pass then.”
A ferocious charm offensive was underway to persuade Labour leavers and colleagues representing leave constituencies to back the deal.
Mr Spencer was described in late afternoon to be “worried but okay” about the numbers.
An informal trade was going on. Conservative MPS who are quitting at the next election were dropped suggestions of consideration for quango jobs if they helped out Mr Johnson.
Some of the MPS were explicit in their demands. One asked for a new road in their constituency. A Government aide said he would pass the request to Mr Spencer.
One source said: “I have had ridiculous things asked of the Government.
“Those things are all fed up to the Chief Whip and they will be considered if they are a realistic ask.”
Other MPS were asking for help in getting chosen as their local candidate for the next election. The source said MPS were saying “get me selected and I will back the deal”.
Labour MPS were proving more difficult to win round. A Conservative MP who has been helping with the whipping of Labour MPS added: “They’re a wobbly kettle of fish. Labour MPS are coming under tremendous pressure from the leader’s office and people on Twitter.
“They’re very decent people. I’m hoping a lot of them have gone back to their constituencies today because once they’ve spoken to people on the doorstep, they’ll be more likely to vote for a deal.”
Another Tory MP admitted that Labour MPS “feel they are in quite a hopeless spot”, adding: “They are either going to lose the election because they voted against Brexit or they will get in a world of pain from Momentum and get deselected because they voted for it.”
Even Nigel Farage appeared isolated when the Leave.eu campaign, run by former Ukip donor Arron Banks, came out for the PM’S deal, saying on
Twitter: “We can end the Losers’ Vote campaign in a single day – pass the deal and crush their plots!”
But there was alarm when John Baron, the Brexiteer Tory MP, said on the BBC’S Victoria Derbyshire programme that “if trade talks are not successful, we could leave on No Deal terms”.
Number 10 also brushed off concerns that an amendment tabled by Sir Oliver Letwin could, if passed by MPS today, force Mr Johnson to send a letter asking for a delay even if his deal is also voted through.
A senior Government source said: “The bottom line is, the PM will not be asking for a delay.
“The Benn Act doesn’t stop the Government being the Government. In the event nothing passes through the House of Commons, we’re still leaving on Halloween.
The source said the “poorly drafted” legislation only says a “copy of a document has to arrive in Donald
Tusk’s hand by October 19”. Where does it say the Prime Minister has to sign it? This is Parliament’s letter, not the Government’s.”
Appearing to indicate it would have to be for Speaker John Bercow to request a delay on behalf of MPS, the source added: “Don’t believe anyone who says we are going to ask for a delay. We’re not.”
By last night the effort appeared to be bearing fruit. Labour MP Melanie Onn said she would back the deal. Other members of the ERG were waiting until this morning’s 8.30am meeting to make a final decision.
But a source close to the group said: “They are going to back the deal. No one has come out and said they’ll vote against it and I’d be very surprised if any of them vote against it – the political stakes are too high.”
Victory, so unlikely just weeks ago, seemed to be in the grasp of Mr Johnson.
But it was still too close to call.