Mayday Mayday ...abandon vote
● Humiliated Prime Minister postpones Commons vote to seek new EU concessions ● Sturgeon calls for motion of no confidence branding the delay ‘political cowardice’ ● Pound plunges to an 18 month low amid ongoing chaos and confusion
Theresa May faced humiliation after being forced to abandon a vote on her Brexit deal, admitting it “would have been rejected by a significant margin” if put before MPS.
The Prime Minister was accused of “an act of pathetic cowardice” by Nicola Sturgeon, who demanded an immediate vote of confidence in the government.
Mrs May will now tour European capitals in a desperate bid to reopen the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and strip it of the Irish border backstop, which she conceded had caused MPS “widespread and deep concern”.
The EU Council President Donald Tusk announced that Brexit would be added to the schedule of a summit of European leaders starting on Thursday, but warned Brussels would not rip up the backstop. “We will not
renegotiate the deal, including the backstop, but we are ready to discuss how to facilitate UK ratification,” Mr Tusk said.
“As time is running out, we will also discuss our preparedness for a no-deal scenario.”
The pound fell 1.25 per cent against the dollar on news the vote had been scrapped. After weeks of insisting the deal agreed with Brussels was final, Mrs May was forced into a embarrassing climbdown after it became the government could not avoid a huge defeat at the hands of Conservative rebels.
The Prime Minister held an emergency Cabinet meeting with ministers who had spent the morning insisting MPS would have their say on the deal as normal.
Just minutes before news of the U-turn emerged, a Downing Street spokeswoman told journalists that the vote would be going ahead. “I have listened very carefully to what has been said, in this chamber and out of it, by members from all sides,” Mrs May told MPS.
“From listening to those views it is clear that while there is broad support for many of the key aspects of the deal, on one issue – the Northern Ireland backstop – there remains widespread and deep concern.
“As a result, if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. We will therefore defer the vote scheduled for tomorrow and not proceed to divide the House at this time.”
The Prime Minister offered no clarity on when a vote would take place, despite repeated questions from MPS on all sides, although the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox suggested a vote may not take place until next year.
“I will go to see my counterparts in other member states and the leadership of the Council and the Commission,” Mrs May said.
She added that she was “determined to do all I can to secure the reassurances this House requires, to get this deal over the line and deliver for the British people.”
The Prime Minister will meet with the Dutch premier Mark Rutte in the Hague this morning, before travelling to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Ms Sturgeon said the decision to pull the vote was “an unforgiveable dereliction of responsibility”.
The First Minister said: “It is final proof that the interests of a deeply-divided Tory party matter far more to the Prime Minister than people’s jobs and living standards.”
The Prime Minister was warned by the Commons Speaker that scrapping today’s vote at the last minute was “deeply discourteous”.
John Bercow hit out at the
Corbyn says no to cross-party pressure for avoteofno confidence
late stage of abandonment, with 164 having already taken part in three days of debate. Under parliamentary rules, the government can postpone putting the Brexit before MPS without their approval, Mr Bercow urged the Prime Minister to “give the House the opportunity to express its opinion in a vote”.
He added: “I politely suggest that in any courteous, respectful and mature environment, allowing the House to have its say on this matter would be the right, and dare I say it obvious course to take.”
However, Mrs May’s spokesman said the government whip would shout “tomorrow” when the Commons clerk read out the orders of the day on Monday night, putting off two days of debate and any votes.
Jeremy Corbyn defied pressure from other opposition parties and his own parliamentarians to call a vote of no confidence in Theresa May’s government.
Edinburgh South MP Ian Murray sent a letter to the Labour leader signed by at least 30 MPS, 15 peers and five MEPS urging him to table a vote this week.
And Nicola Sturgeon said SNP MPS would support a bid to oust the Prime Minister and force a general election, appealing to the Labour leader on social media.
Addressing a post on twitter to Mr Corbyn, the First Minister said: “If Labour, as official opposition, lodges motion of no confidence in this incompetent government tomorrow, the SNP will support & we can then work together to give people the chance to
stop Brexit in another vote. “This shambles can’t go on - so how about it?”
The Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru also called for a vote of no confidence. But a Labour spokesman resisted the pressure, saying the party would only try to force Mrs May out after parliament had defeated her Brexit deal.
“We will put down a motion of no confidence when we judge it most likely to be successful,” the spokesman said.
“It is clear to us that Theresa May will not renegotiate the deal when she goes to Brussels, and will only be asking for reassurances from EU leaders.
“When she brings the same deal back to the House of Commons without significant changes, others across the House will be
faced with that reality.
“At that point, she will have decisively and unquestionably lost the confidence of Parliament on the most important issue facing the country, and Parliament will be more likely to bring about the general election our country needs to end this damaging deadlock.”
Mr Murray’s letter was signed by a number of prominent supporters of a so-called “people’s vote” including Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie and Owen Smith.
“With the Government now clearly unable to command a majority in the House of Commons for the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan - which is at the heart of the Government’s entire agenda - it is imperative to take action this week under
the terms of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act to table a vote of no confidence in HM Government,” the letter states.
“If this fails we must commit to a public vote with an option to stay in the EU straight away.
“It is imperative that the country clearly knows where our Labour Party stands at this critical moment so now is the time to immediately take steps to move forward to a public vote.”
Meanwhile, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee confirmed that parliamentary convention has not been changed by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, and a motion of no confidence would topple the government unless reversed within 14 days.