THERESA May is planning to let MPs vote on alternative proposals to her Brexit deal in Parliament.
According to BBC sources, the Prime Minister she hopes the votes, preliminarily scheduled for the third week in January, will be a “moment of reckoning”.
May was initially understood to oppose the notion of letting MPs vote on other proposals for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
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However, with little indication that her own deal will attract enough support to be passed at Westminster, the Prime Minister has seemingly adopted a different strategy.
By allowing MPs to introduce their proposals in the Commons and vote on them, May is hoping that they will not command a majority either – leaving her own plan as the only plausible solution.
The process would involve opposing proposals to the Prime Minister’s agreement being presented in amendments to her motion and voted on at the same time.
Yet their remains no guarantee that any Brexit proposal will be acceptable to Parliament.
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The original vote on the Government’s Brexit deal, scheduled for December 11, was pulled suddenly amid fears it would be defeated.
A senior BBC source said: “Last time, for one reason or another, people only set out what they opposed. Next time could be an opportunity for people to set down what they support – and vote on it.”
Already, several Conservative Cabinet members have publicly hinted at alternative paths forward if the Prime Minister’s current agreement fails.
Andrea Leadsom and Penny Mordaunt have pledged their backing to a “managed no-deal” while Amber Rudd has expressed her support for a Norway-style agreement, which would maintain closer links the the EU.
The Government still retains hope of receiving more reassurances from the EU that the UK will only be bound by EU legislation for a limited period to avoid the establishment of a hard border in Ireland.
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