This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/11/brexit-meaningful-vote-will-go-ahead-theresa-may-says

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Brexit meaningful vote will go ahead, Theresa May says Theresa May dashes to Strasbourg in bid for Brexit compromise
(about 3 hours later)
Theresa May has said the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal will go ahead on Tuesday, as MPs warned she would lose the confidence of parliament if it was pulled. Theresa May will make an 11th-hour dash to meet EU leaders in Strasbourg on Monday night, as the government insisted the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal would go ahead on Tuesday.
The Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said he understood May would travel to Strasbourg on Monday evening but Downing Street sources declined to confirm that, saying May had “no confirmed travel plans yet” and suggesting the Irish government was getting ahead of events. May will meet Jean-Claude Juncker in a final bid to find a Brexit compromise late on Monday, after a phone call with the European council president earlier in the morning.
Coveney said negotiations were ongoing and said he had hoped there would be clarity at this stage, particularly in advance of the vote on Tuesday. Ambassadors for the 27 EU member states were told at a briefing on Monday that the negotiations had become more combative. One source around the table said if the UK was choosing the impossible, it was choosing no deal.
“The British prime minister is travelling to Strasbourg this evening, I understand, to try to finalise an agreement, if that is possible, to be able to put that to a meaningful vote in Westminster tomorrow,” he said. It was, however, disclosed that the prime minister had been ready to strike a deal with Juncker, the European commission president, on Sunday, but that she was overruled by her cabinet.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said May was still committed to allowing parliament to vote on her Brexit deal, followed by two votes on ruling out no deal and extending article 50. Diplomats were told that the talks over the weekend had gone “up and down, up and then sadly down again”, according to one source, leading to plans for a visit by the prime minister on Monday morning to be ditched.
May spoke to the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, on Monday morning. Downing Street is due to publish papers showing any EU concessions it has managed to achieve but these are likely to fall short of what is demanded by Eurosceptics, who want a legally binding guarantee that the Irish backstop will not endure indefinitely. The EU has rejected proposals by the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, that would construct something close to a unilateral exit mechanism from the Irish backstop but leaders were on Monday keen to talk up the offer they had made, and avoid another delay to the meaningful vote.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said that Brussels made a “very important offer” during the weekend’s talks. “I think that a very important offer has been made to Britain and now it’s up to Britain to respond to these offers,” she told reporters in Berlin.
The deal proposed by Michel Barnier includes a joint interpretative statement that would add legal force to previous assurances that the EU would make maximum effort to find alternatives to the backstop.
The UK and the EU will also make unilateral statements about the temporary nature of the backstop, with the British government likely to lean on revised legal advice from Cox.
The commission’s secretary general, Martin Selmayr, warned the EU ambassadors, however, that the situation in London was fluid and that the chances of a general election had increased in recent days.
He said that the safest delay to Brexit would be up to 23 May, ensuring that elections to the European parliament would not create complications. He added, however, that the EU may have to offer the UK a long extension of article 50 should May’s government fall.
Barnier, in turn, was said to be indignant about Cox’s interview in the Daily Mail in which he said that he would find a way to allow the UK to unilaterally quit the backstop.
The attorney general’s claim that the UK could trigger an arbitration mechanism “on the very first day we entered” the backstop” was read out to EU ambassadors by an incredulous Barnier.
May has a matter of hours to table a motion to parliament in time for a vote on Tuesday. Speaking in the Commons, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said parliament would not tolerate further delay. “Time and time again this prime minister has failed to negotiate, refused to compromise, and delayed and delayed,” he said.
“After three months the prime minister has not achieved one single change to her deal; she is simply running down the clock.”
The junior Brexit minister Robin Walker, who was sent out to answer the urgent question from Corbyn, said the vote would not be withdrawn at the last minute and that the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, would publish revised legal advice before the vote.
The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, said May or another cabinet minister might give a planned statement on the current state of the negotiations as late as 10pm on Monday night.
The Brexit state of play: a guide to this week's crucial votesThe Brexit state of play: a guide to this week's crucial votes
Talks with Brussels are deadlocked, suggesting the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, will struggle to change his legal advice that says the backstop could keep the UK in an indefinite customs union. Walker said that talks with Brussels were at “a critical stage” and were continuing. “The attorney general’s legal analysis will be updated following the outcome of negotiations,” he said. “He will be publishing his legal analysis document on any document that is produced and negotiated with the EU before the house meets tomorrow.”
Ahead of the government statement, the Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, will answer an urgent question from the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, on the progress of the negotiations. The independent MP Anna Soubry said any motion and any amendments MPs would wish to table had to be be put down before the House of Commons rose on Monday night, but Walker would only say that the motion would be published “as soon as it can be”.
Amid signs May’s deal is heading for a heavy defeat, the prime minister has come under pressure from Eurosceptics to pull the meaningful vote and pass a motion showing Brussels that parliament would approve a deal with a time limit on the backstop. Bercow said that the House of Commons’ rules required the motion to be published by 10.30pm on Monday night and indicated he would allow so-called “manuscript amendments” from MPs – amendments which are allowed to be tabled in extreme circumstances on the day of a debate.
However, Nick Boles, a leading Conservative MP, said calling off the vote would not satisfy parliament. “I am sure that the prime minister will honour these three commitments. If she doesn’t she will forfeit the confidence of the House of Commons,” he said. The prime minister had earlier come under pressure from Eurosceptics to pull the meaningful vote and pass a motion showing Brussels that parliament would approve a deal with a time limit on the backstop.
He also retweeted a statement that Tory MPs would consider May to be “toast” if she tried to pull the votes. However, Nick Boles, one of the Conservative MPs leading efforts against no deal, said calling off the vote would not satisfy parliament. “I am sure that the prime minister will honour these three commitments. If she doesn’t she will forfeit the confidence of the House of Commons,” he said.
However, May could also face a Eurosceptic bid to oust her if her deal fails and parliament forces her to rule out no deal and seek an extension to article 50. Asked whether she would resign, the prime minister’s spokesman said there was “nothing to suggest” that outcome, though government sources have suggested they believe May could offer her resignation to hard Brexiters in exchange for voting for her deal.
Asked whether she would resign, the prime minister’s spokesman said there was “nothing to suggest” that outcome.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper had said she and Conservative MPs would attempt to force votes on an extension of article 50 on Thursday should the prime minister pull the votes, saying it would be a “straight-up lie” to parliament if May changed her plans.Labour’s Yvette Cooper had said she and Conservative MPs would attempt to force votes on an extension of article 50 on Thursday should the prime minister pull the votes, saying it would be a “straight-up lie” to parliament if May changed her plans.
In a speech setting out the next steps should parliament vote for an extension, Cooper said May must come forward with a process for how the extension should work.In a speech setting out the next steps should parliament vote for an extension, Cooper said May must come forward with a process for how the extension should work.
The former shadow home secretary, who has been one of the key players in parliamentary moves to avoid no deal, said May should offer a series of indicative votes on the future relationship with Europe and a consultative process with business and trade unions, as well as a possible citizens’ assembly. The former shadow home secretary, who has also been one of the key players in parliamentary moves to avoid no deal, said May should offer a series of indicative votes on the future relationship with Europe and a consultative process with business and trade unions, as well as a possible citizens’ assembly.
If May loses Tuesday’s Brexit vote, she must back a customs union or go | Simon Jenkins
If the prime minister continued to equivocate around changes to the backstop, Cooper said, she and others would attempt to force a new process.
“If she comes forward with a process on Thursday, then that would be a way forward … but if she doesn’t, that is when we will be looking at possible amendments or other approaches … to make sure you can get indicative votes,” Cooper said in her speech at the Centre for European Reform.
Cooper said it was “the time to pivot, not to dig in” and said the risk of an extension was that May would “do more of the same, running round in circles on the backstop and running down the clock”.
“We have to use an extension and work out what kind of Brexit … people want to see,” Cooper said. “We are going to have to start facing these choices this summer anyway. Let’s decide before we finish article 50 rather than after. The PM should use A50 to be bold and offer a series of indicative votes, then publish the government’s draft mandate for the future so that can be amended by parliament.”
However, those trying to use parliament to avoid no deal and force an extension to article 50 are running up against the clock to pass legislation, as the UK will default to leaving without a deal in the absence of any alternative on 29 March.
BrexitBrexit
Theresa MayTheresa May
House of CommonsHouse of Commons
Article 50Article 50
Foreign policyForeign policy
European UnionEuropean Union
EuropeEurope
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content