No sympathy for MPs denied the chance to ‘sort out’ Brexit

SOME MPs expressed their anger and frustration yesterday as the longest sitting of parliament in the UK’s history came to an end. The Commons and the Lords have been sitting since June 21 2017, clocking up 810 days, but yesterday in a move seen by his opponents as controversial, Prime Minister Boris Johnson prorogued parliament until October 14.

Labour’s Diana Johnson was one of the MPs outraged. She tweeted: “This is simply wrong at a time of national crisis. I would be willing to sit day and night until October 31 to get this sorted out. This is what a real Leader would do not send MPs away.”

But the collective record of MPs in “sorting out” Brexit is not good. It has been more than three years since the EU referendum – the result of which all sides agreed to implement. And it has been almost two and a half years since the General Election of 2017, before which almost all candidates agreed that if elected they would implement the outcome of the referendum.

So far Parliament has failed to either implement or scrap Brexit. The nation remains in limbo and there is little sign that, beyond passing a law that says Britain won’t leave without securing a deal, MPs were about to make any kind of breakthrough other than a further delay.

The only deal on the table failed to win support from either arch-leavers in the European Research Group or committed remainers on the Opposition benches.

Many voters will be singularly unimpressed by complaints from MPs that they could have sorted this

out if only they had had more time. A second attempt to resolve the crisis through a general election, was put to MPs yesterday by Boris Johnson. The Opposition who needed to vote for it because the move requires the support of two thirds of the Commons, declined to do so. There’s another failure by MPs to “sort out” Brexit.

We await the cunning plan that ministers close to Mr Johnson suggest the government has up its sleeve to break the impasse. Although, having received Royal Assent the Bill to prevent a no deal Brexit is now law, Downing Street stuck to the line yesterday that Britain would still leave the EU on October 31. There were also assurances that the government would not break the law.

A number of possibilities emerge, Mr Johnson might try to force an election, either through resignation or a new Government Bill to allow a election to be held on a simple majority of MPs. Or he might, while meeting the demands of parliament to write to Brussels asking for a Brexit extension, also formally ask the EU to kick us out on October 31.

The great unknown in this whole farrago is how the majority of voters feel. Our suspicion is that many now view Brexit with a mixture of boredom and resentment and are keen to get it done. And, reluctant as they may be to endure another general election campaign, the third in four years, many might see changing the make-up of the Commons as the only way to break the deadlock.

We doubt, however, there will be much sympathy for MPs wailing that they are being denied the chance to ‘sort out’ Brexit. That ship has sailed.