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MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT in the British House of Commons have overwhelmingly backed a proposal that could allow Brexit to be delayed.
The motion, put forward by Labour MP Yvette Cooper, was passed by 502 votes to 20.
Essentially, MPs were voting on plans Prime Minister Theresa May proposed yesterday in relation to a series of Brexit-related votes being held next month.
They have now formally backed the holding of a series of meaningful votes in the coming weeks to decide what form Brexit will take, including a potential vote on whether to seek to extend Article 50 and delay leaving the EU.
Twenty Conservative Party MPs voted against the proposal.
In an earlier vote Labour’s Brexit proposals – which called for a new customs union with the EU and close alignment with the bloc’s single market - were defeated by 323 votes to 240.
Afterwards, party leader Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would back a second referendum on Brexit “in order to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit or a disastrous no-deal outcome”.
We will also continue to push for the other available options to prevent those outcomes, including a close economic relationship based on our credible alternative plan or a general election.
May faces an uphill battle to get a Brexit deal over the line. The draft Withdrawal Agreement struck between her government and the EU was rejected by the House of Commons by 432 votes to 202 last month.
She is seeking reassurances on certain elements of the deal, in particular the backstop related to Northern Ireland. European leaders have repeatedly said the deal cannot be renegotiated.
Many politicians have raised concerns about the backstop element of the deal, which aims to avoid a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland and could see the North stay aligned to some EU rules.
The Democratic Unionist Party, which campaigned in favour of Brexit and props up May’s minority government, believes the backstop threatens the United Kingdom and could lead to a trade border in the Irish Sea.
Seeking a delay
If May fails to get the House of Commons to back a deal, MPs are expected to vote on 13 and 14 March on whether to leave the EU with no deal, or to seek a delay.
“The government’s policy is to get the legally binding changes so a deal can be brought back to this house … and we can leave on March 29 with a deal,” May said ahead of the vote.
Any delay must be approved by the other 27 EU member states. Some of the bloc’s leaders have questioned whether a short delay would achieve much.
“We don’t need more time: what we need most of all is a decision,” French President Emmanuel Macron said after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris.
“If Britain needs more time, then clearly we shall not refuse,” added Merkel, without mentioning conditions.
In Madrid, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “Although Spain will not oppose granting a possible extension, this must have an assured perspective of resolution.”
EU citizens’ rights
May has repeatedly ruled out delaying Brexit, even after her deal was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs in January.
Her u-turn yesterday prompted outrage among Tory hardliners, with Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg warning that “any delay to Brexit is a plot to stop Brexit”.
However, May’s change of plan averted a rebellion by pro-Europeans who fear economic chaos if Britain ends its 46-year-old relationship with the EU without a deal.
In a rare moment of unity, MPs approved without a vote an amendment seeking to protect the rights of 3.6 million Europeans living in Britain, and more than one million Britons living in EU countries.
It calls on the government to make efforts to preserve the rights of those expats set out in the divorce agreement, even in a no-deal scenario.
Conservative MP Alberto Costa said his amendment “does not deal in goods or services, backstops or borders, but people, living and breathing, skin and bone”.
Costa was forced to quit as a junior minister because he was not technically allowed to put forward the amendment.
MPs also rejected a Scottish National Party motion which stated that the UK should not leave the EU without a deal “under any circumstances” – by 324 votes to 288.
Contains reporting from © AFP 2019
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So Jeremy has just been stringing the UK along to see if an election would come first ?
@Liam Morgan: Corbyn never cared about Brexit either way. All he wants is power so he can transform the UK into his socialist paradise. He’s been using Brexit to try and force an election which is his only priority
@Paul J. Redmond: exactly. Once the 2nd ref results in a remain win. May will call an election and corbyn will romp home!!
@Paul J. Redmond: socialist paradise! About bloody time!
@Liam Morgan: Changed tracks the other day, reports approx 70 more labour MP’s were thinking of moving over to the breakaway lot of Umumma. The man is shallow, without principles, the anti semitism row is increasing and will dominate MSM. He’ll be gone soon.
@wattsed56: is he really anti semitic or is he just anti Isreal? There is a difference but it seems these days if you criticise Israel you are painted with the anti Semite brush
@Oliver Jumelle: May is without doubt the worst PM in centuries, no leadership skills whatsoever.
@Gus Sheridan: rubbish she is not even the worst of the last two
@wattsed56: 70 MPs? The breakaway lot won’t accept them if they’re not part of Labour Friends for Israel.
@Jane: The jury is out on him, but he certainly doesn’t help himself with defending the allegations. As for the party whom he leads, most certainly a number of both grass roots – Momentum members definitely yes. Another MP suspended tonight.
@Cormac Ó Braonáin: They’d accept Tony Blair if he were an MP. Says a lot.
@wattsed56: yep. Blair Brown and Miliband were heavily funded by the same group that are heavily funding Labour Friends for Israel and individually donating to the breakaway MPs. https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israel-lobby-funders-back-breakaway-british-mps
@Eoghan Ryan: think she is!
Motions in parliament are not legally binding on the UK government. The only thing that matters is statute, and the statute that is relevant to Brexit is the EU Withdrawal Act which was passed in 2018. That piece of primary legislation (which is the most powerful type of legislation) requires that the UK leaves the European Union on March 29th with or without a deal. The only person who can initiate primary legislation (which is what would be needed to override the EU Withdrawal Act) is the prime minister herself/himself. So, it is really up to Theresa May herself as to whether she wants to undermine Brexit, and subvert the will of her electorate, by delaying her country’s exit from the European Union.
@J. Reid: Perfectly correct. Interesting looking at the numbers in this article, a large number of abstentions I think from both major parties.
@J. Reid: thanks for the clarification
Theres no point in delaying the inevitable. Just f*** off
@Jamie: it’s not inevitable, and there’s every point in delaying it. No Brexit is a positive result for us. We’re all sick of it, but them just f’ing off is not what we want. Not one bit.
So Jacob Rees-Mogg said “any vote to delay Brexit is a plot to stop Brexit” but I don’t see his name up there among the 20 MPs who voted against the amendment.
@David Daly: he voted to allow a meaningful vote on the matter, which is the current government policy, and his is whipped to follow government policy. Once the vote is put to the house, he will presumably vote against it.
But I do see the irony yes.
Anything good on the old telly tonight now that the Muppet Show is over?
Well one thing is for certain …….brexit ain’t happening . This whole thing was just one giant game of chicken !
Its beyond though joke
@Donnacha Bhoicaire: Nicely done fella!
The entire problem here is that many in the UK don’t understand that backstop and don’t appreciate that the introduction of the backstop would be a disaster for the EU.
they no more want it than the UK does. Basically under a backstop the UK will have the advantages of the single market without making contributions and having to accept free movement of people or the jurisdiction of EU Courts and enjoys fishing rights that has annoyed a number of EU countries.
… Also with the backstop in operation the EU will have difficulty negotiating third party trade deals and it’s already an issue in EU/Australia trade negotiations… The May deal is a very good deal for the UK and they should accept it and I am fairly sure they will..
Because they don’t know their arse from their elbow
@Ian James Burgess: Well they’ve been sitting around on their elbows long enough. Time to sort it out once and for all
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