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U.K. Lawmakers Create Hurdle to No-Deal Brexit, in Blow to Boris Johnson U.K. Lawmakers Create Hurdle to No-Deal Brexit, in Blow to Boris Johnson
(about 8 hours later)
LONDON — British lawmakers passed a measure on Thursday to stop the next prime minister from suspending Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit, delivering a strong rebuke to Boris Johnson’s hard-line strategy. LONDON — British lawmakers passed a measure on Thursday to stop the next prime minister from suspending Parliament and forcing through a no-deal Brexit, undermining the hard-line strategy of Boris Johnson, who is expected to win the job of prime minister next week.
With a 315 to 274 vote, support for the proposal was stronger than many had expected in the ranks of Conservative lawmakers. That puts Parliament on a collision course with Mr. Johnson, who is likely to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May next week and has entertained the idea of shutting down the legislature in the fall to ensure Britain leaves the European Union on Oct. 31, with or without a deal. The vote posed an early test of how Mr. Johnson’s fellow Conservatives would respond to hints that he might shut down Parliament to keep lawmakers from delaying Brexit again, after three years of political chaos that thwarted the current prime minister’s efforts to complete a deal for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
Opinion is split about whether the maneuver fully blocks a suspension of Parliament, but the size of the victory will embolden opponents of a no-deal Brexit and strengthen the arguments of some on Mr. Johnson’s team who would prefer to avoid suspending Parliament. Mr. Johnson’s critics have called a potential suspension of Parliament undemocratic, and said that it would threaten to draw the queen into the middle of the Brexit fight.
Opponents of a no-deal Brexit, desperate to find a way to push their plan through, attached it to a bill related to Northern Ireland, which is awaiting approval. Their amendment requires lawmakers to have a chance every two weeks to debate efforts to restore Northern Ireland’s paralyzed regional government. Lawmakers strongly backed the proposal, voting 315 to 274 and denting Mr. Johnson’s authority even before he has had the chance to enter Downing Street. The measure leaves the door open for lawmakers to register their support for another Brexit delay before the current deadline of Oct. 31.
It also requires Parliament to be reconvened for five days in October, even if the next prime minister suspends the body. Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet has been split over whether to give Parliament the power to stop an exit from the European Union without a deal, and those divisions spilled into the open on Thursday. Her government officially opposed the measure, but one of her cabinet ministers resigned to vote for it and several others abstained, signaling their tacit support.
Although the government officially opposed the amendment, several members of Mrs. May’s cabinet abstained on the question, signaling tacit support of the proposal and daring Mrs. May to fire them. Mrs. May herself opposes a no-deal Brexit, but she has resisted lawmakers’ attempts to increase their powers to stop it from happening. Those who abstained effectively dared Mrs. May to fire them. She did not, though a statement from her office presaged a likely housecleaning of moderate ministers, who will almost certainly be ousted if Mr. Johnson becomes the Conservative Party leader.
If he becomes prime minister as expected, Mr. Johnson has promised to negotiate a radically rewritten deal with the European Union by Oct. 31, or to leave without a deal on that date if he cannot. He would most likely need to circumvent Parliament to secure a no-deal Brexit. “The prime minister is obviously disappointed that a number of ministers failed to vote in this afternoon’s division,” a spokesman for Mrs. May said. “No doubt her successor will take this into account when forming their government.”
Anti-Brexit lawmakers greeted the vote as a major defeat for Mr. Johnson and said it improved the chances of a second Brexit referendum, though opposition to that move is also widespread in Parliament. Opinion is divided about whether the measure that passed on Thursday fully blocks a suspension of Parliament. But the size of the victory will embolden lawmakers who oppose a no-deal Brexit, however, and strengthen the arguments of some on Mr. Johnson’s team who would prefer to avoid suspending Parliament.
Mr. Johnson has entertained the idea of shutting down the legislature in the fall to ensure that, with or without a deal, Britain leaves the European Union on Oct. 31. But his hand was already weakened because the Conservatives have a slim working majority in Parliament, and lawmakers who had trusted Mrs. May to avert a no-deal Brexit do not appear willing to take the same chance with him holding the reins.
Opponents of a no-deal Brexit have been desperately searching for a way to push their plan through, and in the end they attached it to a technical bill related to Northern Ireland. Their amendment means that even if the next prime minister suspends Parliament, it would automatically be recalled and lawmakers would have five days to sit, during which they could try to force the prime minister to seek a Brexit extension.
The cabinet minister who resigned, Margot James, said after the vote that some lawmakers had more faith in Mr. Johnson’s rival, Jeremy Hunt, who has ruled out suspending Parliament. She said giving lawmakers a say on Brexit was paramount.
“My constituents voted emphatically to leave and I will honor that,” Ms. James said. “But when it comes to protecting the right of Parliament, that is really important.”
Philip Hammond, the chancellor of the Exchequer who has recently ratcheted up warnings about the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit, broke with Mrs. May by abstaining on the vote.
“The Conservative Party has always, at its core, had a fundamental belief in the importance of strong institutions — and in a representative democracy there can be no more vital institution than its Parliament,” he said on Twitter. “It should not be controversial to believe that Parliament be allowed to sit, and have a say, during a key period in our country’s history.”
Economists have cautioned that a no-deal Brexit could cripple Britain’s economy and create shortages of food and medicine, warnings that were reinforced with the release of new figures from the government’s official independent budgetary watchdog.
The agency, the Office for Budget Responsibility, said a no-deal Brexit would force the government to borrow tens of billions of pounds more for each of the next several years to cope with a contracting economy and plummeting tax payments.
The value of the British pound, already sliding this month on fears of a no-deal Brexit, took another downturn this week after Mr. Johnson seemed to rule out compromises that analysts believe could help him forge a new agreement with Brussels. After the vote on Thursday, the pound rebounded slightly.