Drama, delay, anticlimax – big day ends in confusion as Letwin’s amendment scuppers Johnson’s Brexit plan

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/20/anticlimax-as-letwin-plan-scuppers-johnson-brexit-deal

Version 0 of 1.

It was billed as Super Saturday – the first weekend sitting of parliament in more than 30 years. Three years after the referendum, with passionate Remain campaigners gathering at the Palace of Westminster’s gates, would MPs vote for a Brexit deal that would finally get Britain out of the EU?

Yet, as is fitting for the tortuous debate around Brexit that has engulfed and paralysed parliament, the dramatic day ended with a further delay and senior MPs believing Downing Street was hatching another plan to force through its deal.

In between came an extraordinary cocktail of parliamentary drama, agonised decisions and political scheming. The chamber was full to bursting by the time Boris Johnson rose to his feet as the session opened. The penalty for non-attendance was clearly high. One MP had struggled in despite having had an operation earlier in the week.

With the numbers on a knife-edge, his opening address was aimed at his real audience. Gone were the accusations of surrender that had so angered MPs weeks earlier. He had dropped the combative tone in favour of a low-key, calm cross-party appeal.

He said he would “continue to listen” to MPs throughout the day and “meet with anyone on any side”. He said he believed Britain would keep the “best tradition of the highest standards of environmental protections and workers’ rights. No one anywhere in this chamber believes in lowering standards,” he said. “Instead we believe in improving them.”

There was no surprise in his pitch. With Northern Ireland’s DUP MPs abandoning Johnson because of the way the region was being treated in his deal, it had become clear that the key to victory would come from independent and Labour MPs, who had long wavered over voting through Brexit but never gone through with it. And they were, believed many Labour and government sources, almost ready to do the deed.

There was just one problem. A big one. Oliver Letwin’s amendment, which would be voted on before MPs got the chance to vote on Johnson’s deal, would make it clear that final approval was being withheld until the legislation needed to implement it was in place. It was an insurance policy, drawn up by the former cabinet minister to stop Britain crashing out of the EU with no deal should the government fail to pass the new laws needed. If the Letwin amendment passed, the government would not get its moment of truth on the new Brexit deal.

A huge operation had been launched to change Letwin’s mind about tabling his amendment. He was brought into Downing Street on Friday night to discuss it. Yet their best efforts could not sway him. By Saturday morning, No 10 aides were openly frustrated. The meaningful vote would become another “meaningless vote”, they said, prolonging the Brexit agony. Despite rumours of Letwin’s plan circulating for a week in Westminster, they were blindsided by its effects. “I’m just frustrated because I really thought we could get there today,” said one government official.

While speeches were taking place in the chamber, with the shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer making a powerful intervention about how troubling details of the deal had not been properly scrutinised, a frantic whipping operation was taking place. There were two dynamics at work. On the plus side for the government, the chances of building a precious majority in favour of the Brexit deal were rising. However, a majority for the Letwin plan also seemed to be in the offing.

Good news for the government had come that morning, when the hardline European Research Group decided to back the deal. That began a domino effect that saw all the hardline pro-Brexit Tory MPs fall in line.

Then there was the swing group of former Tory MPs who had lost the whip over opposing a no-deal Brexit. Could they be won over? Government officials hinted that some could be offered the party whip back if they voted the right way. They were boosted when two, Steve Brine and Alistair Burt, said they would vote for Johnson and against Letwin.

As for the Labour whips, could they stop their MPs backing the Brexit plan? Things seemed to be getting serious when one of them was spotted carrying a roll of thick, black duct tape. In reality, the whips felt they had been hugely helped by an interview with John Baron, a member of the ERG, who had said he backed the Johnson deal because it left open the possibility of a no-deal Brexit once the transition period finished at the end of next year. That had made their argument for them – that Johnson could not be trusted to deliver protections to workers’ rights and environmental standards that he had been using to attract Labour MPs to his cause.

Suddenly, it looked like Letwin’s attempt to reserve judgment on the new Brexit plan might fall short. The key now appeared to be the DUP. They would not vote for Johnson’s deal, but could the government at least persuade them not to vote for Letwin’s delay? Johnson decided to try to speak to them. Everything seemed to hang on how they would vote.

When the votes came, supporters of Letwin’s plan to delay the crucial votes on Brexit were worried. The DUP had not turned up to vote immediately. Had they been persuaded to abstain? With just a minute to go, they appeared and voted for Letwin. Their support turned out to be crucial, with their 10 votes deciding the result.

Victory for the Letwin amendment meant that Johnson had to send a letter demanding a Brexit extension from the EU. Yet in an extraordinary moment, Downing Street aides refused to confirm to journalists that the letter would be sent. “Governments obey the law,” was the only comment, pointing instead to Johnson’s vow that he would not negotiate a further Brexit delay.

I really have no idea what is going on!

Outside parliament, the blare of the People’s Vote rally could be heard. Yet in a now almost empty chamber, another twist emerged. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, announced that , the government intended to try the whole thing all over again – and have another meaningful vote on the Johnson deal.

As he left Westminster, Letwin said it was a “blatant attempt to reverse” the safeguards against no deal that his successful amendment had put in place just hours earlier. By having another meaningful vote, he said, the government could effectively tear up the extension letter written to the EU and ensure that the choice facing MPs was “my deal or no deal” by the end of the month. Suspicious at what was unfolding, the speaker indicated he wouldn’t let the government stage such a vote. It sets up another week of extraordinary votes – and adds more complication to the tortured Brexit story.

“Games, games, games,” said one former cabinet minister, heading home. “People out there thought we were coming here today to make a decision. And now we have to do it all again.”