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Brexit vote: Bercow allows four amendments but not one for second referendum - Politics live Brexit vote: Bercow allows four amendments but not one for second referendum - Politics live
(35 minutes later)
Here is the full text of the amendments that will be put to a vote later.
The Labour amendment (Jeremy Corbyn’s)
Line 1, leave out from “House” to end and insert “declines to approve the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship because it fails to provide for a permanent UK-EU customs union and strong single market deal and would therefore lead to increased barriers to trade in goods and services, would not protect workers’ rights and environmental standards, allows for the diminution of the United Kingdom’s internal and external security and is likely to lead to the implementation of a backstop provision in Northern Ireland that is neither politically nor economically sustainable; declines to approve the United Kingdom’s leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement; and therefore resolves to pursue every option that prevents the United Kingdom’s either leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement or leaving on the basis of the negotiated withdrawal agreement laid before the House.”
The SNP amendment (Ian Blackford’s)
Line 1, leave out from “House” to end and insert “declines to approve the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship in line with the views of the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly that they would be damaging for Scotland, Wales and the nations and regions of the UK as a whole; notes the legal opinion of the advocate general of the European Court of Justice that the United Kingdom has the right to unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded; therefore calls on the UK government to request an extension to the period of negotiation under article 50 of the treaty on European Union so that the UK does not leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement or on the basis of the negotiated agreement laid before the House on Monday 26 November 2018; and calls on the UK government to respect the will of the Scottish parliament in its vote on 5 December 2018 and the Welsh assembly in its vote on 4 December 2018, which both rejected the withdrawal agreement as it now stands.”
Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh’s amendment
At end, add “notes that the Northern Ireland backstop is intended to be temporary; notes that the Vienna convention on the law of treaties makes it absolutely clear that a sovereign state can abrogate any part of a treaty with an international body in case of a fundamental change of circumstances since the Treaty was agreed; notes that making the Northern Ireland backstop permanent would constitute such a fundamental change of circumstances; and therefore calls for an assurance from the government that, if it becomes clear by the end of 2021 that the European Union will not agree to remove the Northern Ireland backstop, the United Kingdom will treat the indefinite continuation of the backstop as a fundamental change of circumstances and will accordingly give notice on 1 January 2022 to terminate the withdrawal treaty so that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shall become an independent country once again.”
Tory MP Sir John Baron’s amendment
At end, add “subject to changes being made in the withdrawal agreement and in the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol so that the UK has the right to terminate the protocol without having to secure the agreement of the EU.”
You can read the full list of amendments tabled, including the names of MPs who have signed each amendment, here (pdf).
Clarke says the UK should revoke article 50 as a means of delay. Having revoked it, it could then trigger it again, he says.
Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, intervenes. He says Clarke is wrong. He says if the UK wants to revoke article 50, it would have to provide “satisfactory evidence to the EU that we are cancelling our departure form the EU”.
Clarke does not push his point. If Cox is right, then the UK needs to ask for an extension of article 50, he says.
Cox says the UK cannot revoke article 50 unilaterally just to buy further time for negotiation.
The difference between revoking article 50 and extending it is important. The UK can revoke article 50 unilaterally. But to extend it it needs the unanimous support of the EU27.
The European court of justice ruling (pdf) before Christmas confirmed that the UK can revoke article 50 unilaterally. But the court said the UK’s decision would have to be “unequivocal and unconditional”, and an earlier opinion (pdf) from the court’s advocate general said the UK would be bound by conditions of “good faith and sincere cooperation” – implying revocation as a negotiating tactic would not be allowed.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow solictor general, opens the debate for Labour. As he set out the party’s policy, he was challenged by Michael Gove, the environment secretary, who said the opposition wanted to be in a customs union with the EU, but also to have a say in its trade deals, and that this amounted to a “unicorn”. Thomas-Symonds rejected this, suggesting Turkey had some influence in EU trade policy.
Ken Clarke, the Conservative pro-European and the father of the Commons, is speaking now. These are from my colleague Lisa O’Carroll.
1. Vintage Ken Clarke He is supporting the Withdrawal agreement as it is "harmless" exit paper "before real negotiations" start. Said it shd have taken "two months to negotiate as obligations to EU citizens, the bill we owe and the Irish border were "perfectly clear" at start
2. "The withdrawal agreement in itself is harmless." - Ken Clarke"The Irish backstop is not really the reason a large number of people in this house are voting against it."
3. Ken Clarke tells MPs who are moaning about backstop that they must be "suffering from form of paranoia to think the Irish backstop is some plot to keep the British" in the EU.
Here are the main points from the opening of the debate, and other Brexit developments so far.
John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, has refused to call a backbench amendment to the Brexit motion deemed helpful to the government. Officially, the government was not supporting the Andrew Murrison amendment, which backed Theresa May’s deal “subject to the withdrawal agreement treaty being amended to specify that the backstop solution shall expire on 31 December 2021”. But if it had passed, then potentially the vote on the main motion, as amended, would have been much closer than it is now expected to be.
The Labour MP Hilary Benn has bowed to pressure from party colleagues and pulled his amendment to the motion. Benn’s amendment, which opposed May’s deal and also opposed a no-deal Brexit, may well have been passed if it had been put to a vote, and that would have also disguised the scale of the opposition to May’s deal – because that would have meant no vote on the main motion as unamended.
Bercow has called four amendments – including two other Tory backbench ones relating to the backstop. But he has not called the Lib Dem amendment, and there will be no vote on a second referendum. (See 1.09pm.)
May’s EU emissary, Olly Robbins, has been working up secret contingency plans for cross-party talks aimed at testing MPs’ backing for up to six different Brexit options were the prime minister to lose Tuesday’s vote by a significant margin, the Guardian has learned.
Opponents of Theresa May’s Brexit deal have seized on a suggestion by Germany’s foreign minister that further negotiations could be opened with the EU should MPs reject the prime minister’s agreement on Tuesday evening.
Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, has told MPs that the choice between accepting or rejecting May’s deal amounts to a choice between order or “chaos”. In his speech opening this afternoon’s debate, he said:
[May’s deal] provides for the orderly and predictable and legally certain winding down of our obligations and involvement in the legal systems of the EU.
If we do not legislate for that legal certainty as a matter of law alone, thousands of contracts, thousands of transactions, thousands of administrative proceedings, of judicial proceedings in the European Union and this country, will be plunged into legal uncertainty.
It would be the height of irresponsibility for any legislator to contemplate with equanimity such a situation.
If you were a litigant in a court, if you were dependent upon having concluded a contract on the basis of EU law and you found yourself suddenly with the rug pulled from under you, not knowing what your legal obligations would be, you would say to this house: ‘What are you playing at? What are you doing? You are not children in the playground, you are legislators.’ We are playing with people’s lives ...
Whether it can be done by 29 March or whether it can’t does not affect the decision we have to take today - which is: do we opt for order, or do we choose chaos?
Cox said an amendment from the Tory MP Edward Leigh, which will be put to a vote tonight and which would give the UK the right to abandon the withdrawal agreement if it is still in the backstop by the end of 2021 (see 1.46pm), would not be compatible with the UK’s international legal obligations. If it were passed, it could lead to the EU deciding the UK had not ratified the agreement, he said.
Cox says passing this deal would be the first step towards leaving the EU. If the Commons did not take this step, it would plunge the country into uncertainty.Cox says passing this deal would be the first step towards leaving the EU. If the Commons did not take this step, it would plunge the country into uncertainty.
And people who want to stop Brexit want MPs to vote down this deal, because they know this deal is the only path to Brexit. Vote it down, and Brexit could be stopped, he argues.And people who want to stop Brexit want MPs to vote down this deal, because they know this deal is the only path to Brexit. Vote it down, and Brexit could be stopped, he argues.
He says if MPs vote it down history will record that MPs voted against the possibility of the UK regaining independence, all because of the backstop.He says if MPs vote it down history will record that MPs voted against the possibility of the UK regaining independence, all because of the backstop.
And that’s it. Cox has finally finished.And that’s it. Cox has finally finished.
Rachel Reeves, the Labour chair of the business committee, intervenes. She says Cox has been speaking for almost an hour, and almost everything he has said is aimed at addressing concerns of Tories. But, as the two votes from MPs in the Commons showed last week, what other MPs are worried about is the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. Will Cox rule that out?Rachel Reeves, the Labour chair of the business committee, intervenes. She says Cox has been speaking for almost an hour, and almost everything he has said is aimed at addressing concerns of Tories. But, as the two votes from MPs in the Commons showed last week, what other MPs are worried about is the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. Will Cox rule that out?
Cox says the way to avoid a no-deal Brexit is to vote for this deal.Cox says the way to avoid a no-deal Brexit is to vote for this deal.
Cox say Labour wants to stay in the customs union, provided the UK could have a say in EU trade deals.Cox say Labour wants to stay in the customs union, provided the UK could have a say in EU trade deals.
But that would be the first time the EU had ever given that right to a third country, he says. He says the Labour policy is a “fantasy”.But that would be the first time the EU had ever given that right to a third country, he says. He says the Labour policy is a “fantasy”.
Peter Bone, the Tory Brexiter, intervenes to ask Cox about the report from the Lords EU committee (pdf), saying the UK would not have to pay anything to the EU after Brexit.Peter Bone, the Tory Brexiter, intervenes to ask Cox about the report from the Lords EU committee (pdf), saying the UK would not have to pay anything to the EU after Brexit.
Cox says Bone is wrong. The UK might not have any financial obligations to the EU after Brexit under EU law, he says. But under public international law the UK would have financial obligations, he says. He says the argument that the UK would not have financial obligations under international public law “is flimsy at best”.Cox says Bone is wrong. The UK might not have any financial obligations to the EU after Brexit under EU law, he says. But under public international law the UK would have financial obligations, he says. He says the argument that the UK would not have financial obligations under international public law “is flimsy at best”.
Sir Edward Leigh intervenes. He says many Tory MPs want an end date to the backstop. He asks the government to agree to accept amendments on this.Sir Edward Leigh intervenes. He says many Tory MPs want an end date to the backstop. He asks the government to agree to accept amendments on this.
Cox said Leigh’s amendment would not be compatible with the UK’s international law obligations.Cox said Leigh’s amendment would not be compatible with the UK’s international law obligations.
Cox confirms the government will not accept the amendment from the Tory MP Edward Leigh saying the UK should have the right to abandon the withdrawal agreement if it is still in the backstop by the end of 2021.Cox confirms the government will not accept the amendment from the Tory MP Edward Leigh saying the UK should have the right to abandon the withdrawal agreement if it is still in the backstop by the end of 2021.
Here, for the record, is the full text of the Leigh amendment.Here, for the record, is the full text of the Leigh amendment.
At end, add “notes that the Northern Ireland backstop is intended to be temporary; notes that the Vienna convention on the law of treaties makes it absolutely clear that a sovereign state can abrogate any part of a treaty with an international body in case of a fundamental change of circumstances since the treaty was agreed; notes that making the Northern Ireland backstop permanent would constitute such a fundamental change of circumstances; and therefore calls for an assurance from the government that, if it becomes clear by the end of 2021 that the European Union will not agree to remove the Northern Ireland backstop, the United Kingdom will treat the indefinite continuation of the backstop as a fundamental change of circumstances and will accordingly give notice on 1 January 2022 to terminate the Withdrawal Treaty so that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shall become an independent country once again.”At end, add “notes that the Northern Ireland backstop is intended to be temporary; notes that the Vienna convention on the law of treaties makes it absolutely clear that a sovereign state can abrogate any part of a treaty with an international body in case of a fundamental change of circumstances since the treaty was agreed; notes that making the Northern Ireland backstop permanent would constitute such a fundamental change of circumstances; and therefore calls for an assurance from the government that, if it becomes clear by the end of 2021 that the European Union will not agree to remove the Northern Ireland backstop, the United Kingdom will treat the indefinite continuation of the backstop as a fundamental change of circumstances and will accordingly give notice on 1 January 2022 to terminate the Withdrawal Treaty so that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shall become an independent country once again.”
If you want more information about what the Vienna convention on the law of treaties says, and whether it could be used by the UK to exit the withdrawal agreement, this House of Commons library briefing (pdf) should answer all your questions.If you want more information about what the Vienna convention on the law of treaties says, and whether it could be used by the UK to exit the withdrawal agreement, this House of Commons library briefing (pdf) should answer all your questions.
Cox says the regulatory provisions in the backstop are standard non-regression clauses of the kind you get in free trade agreements.Cox says the regulatory provisions in the backstop are standard non-regression clauses of the kind you get in free trade agreements.
The UK will have regulatory flexibility, “if we wish to avail ourselves of it”, he says.The UK will have regulatory flexibility, “if we wish to avail ourselves of it”, he says.
Cox says, once EU fishermen realise they cannot get “a single cod or plaice” from UK waters under the backstop, they will put great pressure on their governments to ensure the backstop does not continue.Cox says, once EU fishermen realise they cannot get “a single cod or plaice” from UK waters under the backstop, they will put great pressure on their governments to ensure the backstop does not continue.
Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, says the EU has made it clear that the backstop cannot be permanent.Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, says the EU has made it clear that the backstop cannot be permanent.
He says no Danish, Dutch or Belgian fisherman will be allowed to point the prow of their boat one metre into British waters under the backstop.He says no Danish, Dutch or Belgian fisherman will be allowed to point the prow of their boat one metre into British waters under the backstop.
This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby, who has been speaking to a minister about the speaker’s decision not to select the Murrison amendment.This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby, who has been speaking to a minister about the speaker’s decision not to select the Murrison amendment.
Ask senior minister if its a disaster. Says the Leigh/Baron amendments at least send a political message about the concerns of MPs that need to be answered. Adds that it "would have been a problem" had none been selected....... https://t.co/CPO06QR6u0Ask senior minister if its a disaster. Says the Leigh/Baron amendments at least send a political message about the concerns of MPs that need to be answered. Adds that it "would have been a problem" had none been selected....... https://t.co/CPO06QR6u0
Sylvia Hernon, the independent MP from Northern Ireland, intervenes. She says Cox previously described the backstop as “an instrument of pain” for the EU. Will he elaborate?Sylvia Hernon, the independent MP from Northern Ireland, intervenes. She says Cox previously described the backstop as “an instrument of pain” for the EU. Will he elaborate?
Cox says he wants to move on to that. He says most of what is in the withdrawal agreements is entirely sensible. It allows matters to be settled orderly.Cox says he wants to move on to that. He says most of what is in the withdrawal agreements is entirely sensible. It allows matters to be settled orderly.
There are misconceptions about the withdrawal agreement, he says. People claim it allows the ECJ to have jurisdiction over UK law. “It does not,” he bellows. He repeats the phrase several times. Once the clauses relating to the ECJ have wound out, it will no longer have jurisdiction, he says.There are misconceptions about the withdrawal agreement, he says. People claim it allows the ECJ to have jurisdiction over UK law. “It does not,” he bellows. He repeats the phrase several times. Once the clauses relating to the ECJ have wound out, it will no longer have jurisdiction, he says.
And he says the same applies to the argument about EU rules continuing to have force after Brexit.And he says the same applies to the argument about EU rules continuing to have force after Brexit.
Cox explains what the withdrawal agreement achieves. It settles the bills, and allows legal agreements to continue.Cox explains what the withdrawal agreement achieves. It settles the bills, and allows legal agreements to continue.
He says the transition will be like an “airlock”. An airlock allows the human body to adopt to a new environment, he says. And this deal will allow the UK to adapt to the bright new world on offer after Brexit.He says the transition will be like an “airlock”. An airlock allows the human body to adopt to a new environment, he says. And this deal will allow the UK to adapt to the bright new world on offer after Brexit.
It will create a bridge for the departure from the EU, he says.It will create a bridge for the departure from the EU, he says.
Nigel Dodds, the DUP leader at Westminster, intervenes to say that Theresa May failed to get legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement.Nigel Dodds, the DUP leader at Westminster, intervenes to say that Theresa May failed to get legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement.
Cox says Dodds is right to say that the EU has not changed the withdrawal agreement. But the assurances offered have legal force, he says.Cox says Dodds is right to say that the EU has not changed the withdrawal agreement. But the assurances offered have legal force, he says.