THERESA May’s fragile Brexit coalition was falling apart yesterday, less than 24 hours after it had been forged in the heat of Tuesday’s Commons debate on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
The Prime Minister had avoided near certain defeat in Westminster by appearing to make significant concessions to 15-20 Tory rebels on the role of parliament on the final Brexit deal.
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The government had told the rebels it would change the bill in the Lords, to absorb parts of an amendment tabled by Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general.
Grieve’s proposals would see the House of Commons given a veto over the course of action the government takes if it has not reached a Brexit deal with Brussels by the end of November.
According to the rebels May had also pledged to hold talks on clause C, which would see Parliament “direct” the government if no agreement is reached with the EU by 15 February next year.
Yesterday, however, Number 10 said clause C, was not “up for discussion”.
Anna Soubry, one of those Tory rebels said that was not what May had promised. “For the avoidance of doubt the PM said yesterday that clause C, of Dominic Grieve’s amendment would be discussed ... If the PM goes back on that there will be no agreed amendment that I can support,” she tweeted.
Robert Buckland, the solicitor general, said he had “a problem, both constitutionally and politically, with the concept of a direction being given by parliament”.
He added: “It would tie the hands of the government in a way that I think could make no deal more likely. So, let’s not go down that road.”
On Tuesday night, all but two of the known rebels backed the government.
Meanwhile, in the Commons yesterday, May’s party were fairly well united. It was Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour who were splits over the European Economic Area. The Lords changed the bill to keep Britain in the EEA, the so-called Norway model.
May wanted the change undone. Corbyn had instructed his MPs to abstain, whipping them to back Labour’s own customs union motion.
It was Corbyn biggest rebellion yet, 90 Labour MPs broke the whip, with 75 voting in favour of it and 15 against.
One shadow minister, and four ministerial aides, including Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP Ged Killen resigned from the frontbench.
Meanwhile, Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, suggested that in the brouhaha of Tuesday in the Commons, the government had effectively backed a motion making the UK remaining in the single market inevitable.
MPs had backed a change to the bill enshrined in law no “physical infrastructure, including border posts, or checks and controls” in Northern Ireland. He said that would mean a necessitate regulatory alignment.
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