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Labour says it will join Conservatives to block 'no deal' Brexit Let Tories lead efforts to block 'no deal' Brexit, backbenchers warn Labour
(about 5 hours later)
Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has said his party would work with Conservative MPs to block any prospect of a “no deal” Brexit, saying there was no majority in parliament for crashing out of the EU. Backbenchers have warned the Labour leadership to let rebel Conservative MPs lead the opposition to the EU withdrawal bill, after the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has said his party was talking to Tory MPs to block any prospect of a “no deal” Brexit.
McDonnell’s comments came as a cross-party group of MPs including several former Conservative ministers revealed plans that would give parliament the ability to veto, or prevent by other legal means, a “bad deal” or “no deal” outcome, using amendments to the forthcoming EU withdrawal bill. His comments have sparked concern from Labour and Conservative backbenchers who believe Tory MPs are not likely to be won over to support the amendment if it can be construed as being orchestrated by McDonnell or the Labour frontbench.
McDonnell said Labour was not prepared to consider the prospect of leaving the EU without a negotiated settlement. “I’m not willing to countenance that. I don’t think there is a majority in parliament for no deal,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. McDonnell’s comments came as a cross-party group of MPs, including several former Conservative ministers, revealed plans that would give parliament the ability to veto a “bad deal” or “no deal”outcome, using amendments to the forthcoming EU withdrawal bill.
The shadow chancellor said Labour was not prepared to consider the prospect of leaving the EU without a negotiated settlement. “I’m not willing to countenance that. I don’t think there is a majority in parliament for no deal,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“I think there are enough sensible people in the House of Commons to say, ‘This cannot happen, we cannot damage our country in this way.’”“I think there are enough sensible people in the House of Commons to say, ‘This cannot happen, we cannot damage our country in this way.’”
Asked if Labour would work with Conservative MPs who were also concerned about leaving with no deal, McDonnell said: “There are discussions going right the way across the House. Asked if Labour would work with Conservative MPs who were also concerned about leaving with no deal, McDonnell said: “There are discussions going right the way across the House.”
“I worry for our country as a result of what is happening within the Conservative party. This is not about negotiating with Europe, it’s about fighting amongst themselves and if they can’t negotiate they should get out of the way and let us do it.” One Labour MP called the comments “totally counter-productive” to cross-party collaboration between MPs from both sides lobbying for a soft Brexit. “The Tories don’t want to do anything perceived to help Corbyn; this kind of chat puts them off challenging the ministerial frontbench,” the source said.
However, the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, told the same programme that parliament would have no mechanism to keep the UK in the EU for longer than 30 March 2019, which is when Britain’s membership of the bloc will automatically expire if no deal is reached. “Parliament has already voted for leaving the European Union overwhelmingly,” he said. “The Tory anti-hard Brexit MPs are clear: they will only work with Labour backbenchers in the national interest on a cross-party basis to make amendments to legislation; they won’t touch frontbench initiatives with a barge pole.”
The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, said the government should also commit to a vote in the Commons if talks break down with the EU and membership is set to expire without a settlement. Another senior Tory MP involved in the amendment process said: “The idea that any Conservative is going to sign up to a Jeremy Corbyn-backed amendment is fantasy. We do speak to Labour backbenchers but we are not having conversations with the front bench. I think it is wise to allow Conservative backbenchers to lead on some of these issues.”
“We should also have a vote if there’s no deal,” he said. “Because no deal would be disastrous and it cannot simply be waved through, so we want a vote on it and I can tell you we’ll vote against it. I think the consensus would be against it because no deal is so disastrous.” One Labour backbencher said the amendments had wide support across the House beyond the “usual suspects” of pro-remain Conservative MPs. “John McDonnell is not talking to those MPs nor would it be helpful if he did,” the MP said.
Starmer said he was concerned about the “casual talk on no deal” by Conservative backbenchers. “It means no deal on trade, that means huge tariffs, it means no deal in Northern Ireland as to the border, that means a hard border if we’ve not had agreement,” he said. “You have to find the sweet spot of a critical number of Conservative rebels and support from all the opposition parties, followed by the Labour frontbench. That gives it the best chance of forcing the government to change.”
“It means no deal for EU citizens here and for UK citizens abroad, it means no deal on terrorism and I know the security and counter-intelligence services are extremely worried about that so no deal is simply not viable.” It is unclear whether MPs will be able to devise a mechanism to reject a “cliff-edge” Brexit, should talks break down and Britain’s EU membership expire at the end of the two-year withdrawal process.
Theresa May has made it clear that at the end of negotiations MPs will have only two options: to accept whatever deal is on offer or to agree there will be no deal. The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, said parliament would have no mechanism to keep the UK in the EU beyond 30 March 2019, which is when Britain’s membership of the bloc will automatically end if no deal is reached. “Parliament has already voted for leaving the European Union overwhelmingly,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.
The prime minister told the House of Commons this week that the government was spending £250m on preparations for a possible “no deal” as negotiations with Brussels hit roadblocks, with some cabinet ministers reported to believe the chances of the UK crashing out of the bloc were as high as 50/50. Among the amendments MPs hope would avoid a “cliff-edge Brexit” are a clause saying any final deal must be approved by an entirely separate act of parliament, backed by 10 Tory MPs including former cabinet Dominic Grieve.
The former cabinet minister Dominic Grieve is among 10 Tory MPs, as well as members of all the other main parties, who have tabled an amendment to the EU withdrawal bill saying any final deal must be approved by an entirely separate act of parliament. The MPs believe this would give the majority of parliamentarians who are opposed to a hard Brexit a binding vote on the final outcome.
The MPs believe this would give the majority of parliamentarians who are opposed to leaving without a settlement the binding vote on the final outcome. Another amendment backed by the former Tory chancellor Kenneth Clarke and prominent Labour, SNP, Liberal Democrat and Green MPs would enshrine in law the prime minister’s commitment to seeking a transition deal, laid out in May’s Florence speech. If such a transition was not agreed, the amendment says, exit from the EU should not be allowed to happen.
More than 300 amendments have been tabled to the bill, including clauses on limiting the minister’s power to amend legislation transferred from EU law as well as enshrining in law the prime minister’s commitment to seeking a transition deal, laid out in May’s Florence speech. The prime minister will attend the European council this week where she is expected to press EU leaders to agree to move on negotiations to discuss Britain’s future relationship with the EU.
Democratic Unionist party MPs, upon whose votes May relies for a Commons majority, have made it clear to government whips that they would not accept a “no deal” outcome because it would mean a return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, the Observer reported. Boris Johnson met with eight eastern European foreign ministers at Chevening on Sunday in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock. The eight represent the countries most supportive of the UK, and the test will be whether they are prepared to break with France and Germany by calling for the talks on future EU-UK relations to be started soon.
Ministers may sanction the first expenditure on preparations for a “no deal” Brexit as soon as Monday, without the full approval of parliament, the paper said. So far the UK has been unable to break the EU wall of unity that insists the talks about future relations cannot start until talks on terms of divorce are settled. It is the first time since the Brexit talks started that the Foreign Office has gathered such a collection of allies in one place.
On Sunday, the former Brexit minister David Jones said Britain should be prepared to suspend negotiations at this week’s European council meeting in Brussels until the EU was prepared to negotiate further on the financial settlement and begin talks on future trade terms.
“Until such time as you talk to us we will assume you are not really serious and we will of course have to prepare for life outside the EU in which we will be trading with you on World Trade Organisation terms,” Jones told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend.
May is said to be planning a round of “telephone diplomacy” calls to EU leaders ahead of the summit, after leaked documents suggested European leaders would present an agreed position on a transition period and a trade deal in December, as long as negotiations continue to make progress on “divorce issues” such as the exit bill and citizens’ rights.
In a phone call with the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, May stressed the importance of progress in the negotiations, in a week where her Conservative backbenchers have been pushing her to start making detailed preparations for a “no deal” scenario.
“They looked ahead to next week’s council, agreeing on the importance of continued constructive progress in the UK’s exit negotiations,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
The prime minister is expected to make similar calls to other EU leaders in the coming days but a No 10 source made it clear the prime minister was not planning on threatening to withdraw from talks.