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| The Guardian view on MPs and Brexit: parliament must have the power | The Guardian view on MPs and Brexit: parliament must have the power |
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| Wed 25 Oct 2017 19.19 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 14.52 GMT | |
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| For a senior minister to be slapped down on his own departmental special subject is unusual. For that senior minister to be slapped down on his own special subject by his own press spokesperson is surely unprecedented. Yet this is what happened to the always supremely self-confident Brexit secretary, David Davis, on Wednesday. It happened, moreover, on a dimension of Brexit that, in comparison with many, is extremely simple to understand. It was also one on which, unusually, the government has made its goal clear. That is why the episode provides a truly disturbing insight into a government strategy that is now beyond shambles. | For a senior minister to be slapped down on his own departmental special subject is unusual. For that senior minister to be slapped down on his own special subject by his own press spokesperson is surely unprecedented. Yet this is what happened to the always supremely self-confident Brexit secretary, David Davis, on Wednesday. It happened, moreover, on a dimension of Brexit that, in comparison with many, is extremely simple to understand. It was also one on which, unusually, the government has made its goal clear. That is why the episode provides a truly disturbing insight into a government strategy that is now beyond shambles. |
| It is no secret, Mr Davis told MPs, that the European Union tends to make its decisions “at the 59th minute of the 11th hour”. This was therefore “precisely” what he expected to happen in the case of the UK’s Brexit talks with the EU. So, Labour’s Seema Malhotra asked him, does that mean parliament may not get to vote on any Brexit deal until after Brexit has occurred? “It could be, yeah,” said Mr Davis. “It depends when it concludes.” So it could be after 29 March 2019, the day the UK ceases to be a member of the EU? “It could be,” Mr Davis agreed. “It can’t come before we have the deal.” | It is no secret, Mr Davis told MPs, that the European Union tends to make its decisions “at the 59th minute of the 11th hour”. This was therefore “precisely” what he expected to happen in the case of the UK’s Brexit talks with the EU. So, Labour’s Seema Malhotra asked him, does that mean parliament may not get to vote on any Brexit deal until after Brexit has occurred? “It could be, yeah,” said Mr Davis. “It depends when it concludes.” So it could be after 29 March 2019, the day the UK ceases to be a member of the EU? “It could be,” Mr Davis agreed. “It can’t come before we have the deal.” |
| Seven months ago, on the day that she formally began the two-year article 50 Brexit process, Theresa May gave MPs and peers a promise that had been forced out of her by a vote in the House of Lords in March. “I have been clear,” the prime minister said in a Commons statement, “that the government will put the final deal agreed between the UK and the EU to a vote in both Houses of Parliament before it comes into force.” | Seven months ago, on the day that she formally began the two-year article 50 Brexit process, Theresa May gave MPs and peers a promise that had been forced out of her by a vote in the House of Lords in March. “I have been clear,” the prime minister said in a Commons statement, “that the government will put the final deal agreed between the UK and the EU to a vote in both Houses of Parliament before it comes into force.” |
| Such a deal, if there is one, will come into force at the end of March 2019. It follows that, for parliament to have its vote, the deal must be made in sufficient time for MPs and peers – as well as the European parliament, which has treaty rights to sign off on the agreement – to consider it. That can’t happen if the deal is only struck at 11.59pm on the last day of the process; “precisely” the timetable that Mr Davis expects. | Such a deal, if there is one, will come into force at the end of March 2019. It follows that, for parliament to have its vote, the deal must be made in sufficient time for MPs and peers – as well as the European parliament, which has treaty rights to sign off on the agreement – to consider it. That can’t happen if the deal is only struck at 11.59pm on the last day of the process; “precisely” the timetable that Mr Davis expects. |
| Mrs May tried to brush the problem aside at prime minister’s questions. She said she was confident that a deal would be done in time for parliament to have its vote, though this was not what Mr Davis had said. A few hours later, Mr Davis’s own spokesperson had another go: “We expect and intend” the vote to be before Brexit, said a statement, adding that “this morning the secretary of state was asked about hypothetical scenarios”. This, too, was a partial reverse, but not a complete one, as the Conservative remainer Dominic Grieve and Labour’s Stephen Kinnock both insisted. | Mrs May tried to brush the problem aside at prime minister’s questions. She said she was confident that a deal would be done in time for parliament to have its vote, though this was not what Mr Davis had said. A few hours later, Mr Davis’s own spokesperson had another go: “We expect and intend” the vote to be before Brexit, said a statement, adding that “this morning the secretary of state was asked about hypothetical scenarios”. This, too, was a partial reverse, but not a complete one, as the Conservative remainer Dominic Grieve and Labour’s Stephen Kinnock both insisted. |
| At the very heart of the leave campaign in 2016 was the demand to take back control and to reclaim the sovereignty of the UK parliament. It is impossible to think of a more important peacetime decision for the UK than the terms on which Britain leaves the EU. It would be completely absurd for the government to deny parliament a meaningful vote on that issue. Any vote that took place after the Brexit deadline would be utterly meaningless. It would be the polar opposite of parliamentary sovereignty. | At the very heart of the leave campaign in 2016 was the demand to take back control and to reclaim the sovereignty of the UK parliament. It is impossible to think of a more important peacetime decision for the UK than the terms on which Britain leaves the EU. It would be completely absurd for the government to deny parliament a meaningful vote on that issue. Any vote that took place after the Brexit deadline would be utterly meaningless. It would be the polar opposite of parliamentary sovereignty. |
| The UK parliament vote should logically precede the vote in the European parliament, This can only mean one of two things. Either the deadline for the talks is really late 2018 – in which case everything has to be tied up in a year from now. Or the EU must prolong the article 50 process, a power it possesses. Whichever it is, Mr Davis has been exposed by this episode. He spent an hour and a half insouciantly implying to MPs that he was the master of the situation and that everything would work out well in the end. But on this and on many other issues in the Brexit process, this is simply untrue. “Expecting and intending” to have a parliamentary vote on the biggest issue facing Britain is not enough. The commitment must be absolute. The guarantee must be unconditional. Parliament must have the power. | The UK parliament vote should logically precede the vote in the European parliament, This can only mean one of two things. Either the deadline for the talks is really late 2018 – in which case everything has to be tied up in a year from now. Or the EU must prolong the article 50 process, a power it possesses. Whichever it is, Mr Davis has been exposed by this episode. He spent an hour and a half insouciantly implying to MPs that he was the master of the situation and that everything would work out well in the end. But on this and on many other issues in the Brexit process, this is simply untrue. “Expecting and intending” to have a parliamentary vote on the biggest issue facing Britain is not enough. The commitment must be absolute. The guarantee must be unconditional. Parliament must have the power. |
| Brexit | |
| Opinion | |
| Article 50 | |
| European Union | |
| Foreign policy | |
| David Davis | |
| Theresa May | |
| editorials | |
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