Remainer MPs ‘planning to revoke Article 50’
REMAINER MPs are secretly plotting to revoke Article 50 and stop the UK leaving the European Union at the end of next month, the Government warned last night.
If no deal can be agreed with EU leaders by October, Downing Street sources say a “Remain alliance” of MPs in the Commons will try to force through new legislation to stop Brexit altogether.
It came as another Tory rebel joined the Liberal Democrats last night, as Sam Gyimah, the former universities minister who had the whip removed after voting against the Government, joined Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, on stage at the party’s conference.
Boris Johnson prepares to fly to Luxembourg tomorrow to tell Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Union president, that he is “striving” to agree a Brexit deal before next month’s EU Council showdown on Oct 17-18.
The Prime Minister will then return to Britain to try to head off a three-day legal challenge to his decision to prorogue Parliament, which starts in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
No10 is also preparing for another legal challenge to prevent a no-deal exit from the EU, sources said. A source said: “The PM will not negotiate a delay at the Brussels council. We expect there to be a major court battle immediately after the 19th and attempts to pass legislation revoking Article 50, which the Prime Minister will refuse to consider in any circumstances.” A Supreme Court ruling – which if
the Government loses could result in MPs being forced to return to work in the first week of October – is expected next week during the Labour party conference in Brighton.
At the meeting tomorrow, the first head-to-head between Mr Johnson and Mr Juncker, the Prime Minister will make clear that he wants to negotiate a new deal but he will reject another delay if one is offered.
He will make clear that if no deal can be agreed by Oct 18, the UK will leave without a deal on Oct 31.
Mr Johnson said: “We’re leaving on Oct 31 come what may – so let’s work hard to get a deal in the time remaining.
“Some MPs have been peddling a myth that I am not serious about getting a deal. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am striving for a deal and I think we can achieve this.
“I will commit UK officials and my lead negotiator to work flat out to come up with a new agreement without being trapped into EU laws and, equally, ask President Juncker to say the same to his own team so we can get this done.
“I will not ask for an extension. I absolutely believe that our friends in Europe want an orderly exit so now is the time for serious talk.”
Downing Street is now preparing for a battle to deliver on Mr Johnson’s “do or die” pledge.
New concerns also emerge today about the conduct of John Bercow, the House of Commons speaker, who went
‘I will commit UK officials and my lead negotiator to work flat out to come up with a new agreement’
further than before in criticising the Government’s Brexit policy.
Mr Bercow suggested to a reception at a City law firm that Britons would much prefer “an arrangement that is orderly by comparison with an unsolicited and not desired sudden ejection” in a potential breach of House of Commons rules, which state the Speaker “must remain politically impartial at all times”.
Mr Bercow has already said he will quit at the end of next month but a rival to replace him said he should now stand down as soon as MPs return to work in the middle of next month.
And writing in today’s Sunday Telegraph, Joe Moor, who until July was director of legislative affairs at No10, said Mr Johnson could suspend Parliament again after the Queen’s Speech.
Mr Moor said Mr Johnson could suspend Parliament from Oct 14 “until at least Nov 6”. He said: “Should the Prime Minister decide to flout the law and resist the obligation to seek an extension [during a second prorogation] Parliament would be powerless without further – unprecedented – interventions from the Speaker.
“Recall is at the behest of ministers and the courts would have to interfere, by which time it’s possible Brexit would have happened.”
A Government insider confirmed that a “double prorogation” was a technical option, however, there was little indication it would happen given the undoubted controversy it would cause.