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| Labour renews pressure for Brexit vote with 170 questions | Labour renews pressure for Brexit vote with 170 questions |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| Labour has renewed pressure on ministers to set out their Brexit strategy to MPs before formal negotiations begin. | Labour has renewed pressure on ministers to set out their Brexit strategy to MPs before formal negotiations begin. |
| Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Labour would stage a Commons vote on Wednesday on a motion calling for "proper scrutiny". | |
| Ahead of the debate, it asked Brexit Minister David Davis 170 questions, including on trade and migration. | Ahead of the debate, it asked Brexit Minister David Davis 170 questions, including on trade and migration. |
| The Conservatives said there would be "no running commentary" on their plans. | The Conservatives said there would be "no running commentary" on their plans. |
| The government has faced calls to set out more detail on what it wants Brexit to look like, with little known so far about its plans for migration and trade with the EU. | The government has faced calls to set out more detail on what it wants Brexit to look like, with little known so far about its plans for migration and trade with the EU. |
| Labour's 170 questions - one for each day before the end of March, the government's self-imposed deadline for triggering formal exit talks - come from the new shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, and Ms Thornberry. | |
| Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Thornberry said: "We have a government who are about to make major decisions on behalf of this country and they want to go into a locked room and fight it out amongst themselves and come out with some plan that they want to keep secret. | |
| "We publish 170 questions today that we expect the government to answer, at least to have some idea about, at least to have thought about, before they go and trigger article 50." | |
| The questions challenge the government to say which possible trading models it has ruled out, how it intends to manage EU migration, whether it will guarantee the rights of EU citizens currently in the UK and how it will compensate recipients of EU grants beyond 2020. | |
| The Labour MPs also ask about the possibility of customs checks being introduced at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and how employment rights and environmental protections will be maintained. | The Labour MPs also ask about the possibility of customs checks being introduced at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and how employment rights and environmental protections will be maintained. |
| Satisfactory answers to all these questions "might give some confidence that the government is entering the Article 50 negotiations with a clear plan", they say in a letter to Mr Davis. | Satisfactory answers to all these questions "might give some confidence that the government is entering the Article 50 negotiations with a clear plan", they say in a letter to Mr Davis. |
| They add that if not, "it will reinforce the sense that the government is instead blundering into this process without a clear endgame in mind". | They add that if not, "it will reinforce the sense that the government is instead blundering into this process without a clear endgame in mind". |
| Analysis by Iain Watson, BBC political correspondent | Analysis by Iain Watson, BBC political correspondent |
| Ever since the referendum, the Labour leadership has been criticised by pro-EU backbenchers for not doing enough to scrutinise the government's plans for leaving the European Union. | Ever since the referendum, the Labour leadership has been criticised by pro-EU backbenchers for not doing enough to scrutinise the government's plans for leaving the European Union. |
| But now the new shadow minister for Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer - along with Emily Thornberry - seems to be making up for lost time. | But now the new shadow minister for Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer - along with Emily Thornberry - seems to be making up for lost time. |
| Although the precise number of questions is a little gimmicky, they address some issues which business leaders also want answered - for example, whether the government has decided the UK should leave the single market and if so, if it would still abide by its regulations. | Although the precise number of questions is a little gimmicky, they address some issues which business leaders also want answered - for example, whether the government has decided the UK should leave the single market and if so, if it would still abide by its regulations. |
| And a number of Conservative MPs are likely to participate in Wednesday's parliamentary debate on Brexit - also calling for more transparency from the government. | And a number of Conservative MPs are likely to participate in Wednesday's parliamentary debate on Brexit - also calling for more transparency from the government. |
| A Conservative spokesman said the party was aiming for "the right deal for the United Kingdom" and to "return control over all the decisions that affect people's lives to the sovereign institutions of this country". | A Conservative spokesman said the party was aiming for "the right deal for the United Kingdom" and to "return control over all the decisions that affect people's lives to the sovereign institutions of this country". |
| It would not be in the national interest "to provide a running commentary as we shape our negotiating strategy, let alone reveal every aspect of it in advance as Labour now appears to be suggesting", he said. | It would not be in the national interest "to provide a running commentary as we shape our negotiating strategy, let alone reveal every aspect of it in advance as Labour now appears to be suggesting", he said. |
| On Monday several senior politicians demanded Parliament be given the chance to vote on the government's Brexit plans before it begins formal negotiations. | On Monday several senior politicians demanded Parliament be given the chance to vote on the government's Brexit plans before it begins formal negotiations. |
| Downing Street said they were trying to "second-guess" the will of voters who backed Brexit in June's EU referendum, although government sources said MPs could still be asked to approve the "final" deal that is reached. | Downing Street said they were trying to "second-guess" the will of voters who backed Brexit in June's EU referendum, although government sources said MPs could still be asked to approve the "final" deal that is reached. |
| Labour's motion does not explicitly call for a vote but says leaving the EU is "the defining issue facing the UK", calling for a "full and transparent" debate on the plan for leaving the EU and for Mrs May "to ensure that this House is able properly to scrutinise that plan... before Article 50 is invoked". | Labour's motion does not explicitly call for a vote but says leaving the EU is "the defining issue facing the UK", calling for a "full and transparent" debate on the plan for leaving the EU and for Mrs May "to ensure that this House is able properly to scrutinise that plan... before Article 50 is invoked". |
| MPs will vote on the motion - although the result will not be binding - and the government is expected to table an amendment adding that the EU referendum result must be respected and that the government's negotiating strategy should not be undermined. | MPs will vote on the motion - although the result will not be binding - and the government is expected to table an amendment adding that the EU referendum result must be respected and that the government's negotiating strategy should not be undermined. |