As a devoted 'Brexiteer' I get the daily email from 'Brexit Central' (run by the remnants of Dominic Cummings Leave group).
I thought you might like to see what the other side is saying:
"Good morning,
Yesterday was another vital day on the road to Brexit. MPs voted down the various attempts to use parliamentary chicanery to delay our departure from the EU and instead
gave Theresa May a positive mandate to return to Brussels to renegotiate the deal that they rejected so resoundingly a fortnight ago.
As I watched the opening speeches of yesterday’s debate from the Press Gallery in the Commons - you can see our
video highlights from the day here - I detected a sense of peace breaking out in the Conservative Party. News had emerged of the ‘Malthouse Compromise’, details of which
we carry here, with determined Remainers like
Nicky Morgan and equally determined Leavers like
Steve Baker singing from the same hymn sheet; there was also an endorsement for the plan from the DUP and a raft of leading international trade experts.
Theresa May held her own in the Commons and you could feel the vast majority of her MPs falling in behind her bid to have them back
Sir Graham Brady’s amendment demanding the hated Irish backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement be replaced.
Jeremy Corbyn, on the other hand, struggled to command the chamber and refused to take many interventions, even from his own side - who gave him the weakest of whimpers when he sat down.
Determined Brexiteer Tory MPs like
Peter Bone and
Jacob Rees-Mogg had both made warm overtures to May during interventions on her in the chamber and during the course of the day it became clear that the European Research Group of Brexit-backing Tory MPs would indeed back Brady’s amendment as May called on MPs “to show the European Union what it will take to get a deal through this House of Commons”, setting out that what she was was talking about was “not a further exchange of letters but a significant and legally binding change to the Withdrawal Agreement”.
When it came to the voting - on seven different amendments in total - there were
significant defeats for the attempts to override Commons Standing Orders and snatch control of the parliamentary agenda in order to delay Brexit.
Dominic Grieve’s attempt to seize six days of Commons' time for Brexit debates on amendable motions was
defeated by 321 votes to 301 - a majority of 20. While 15 Conservative MPs backed the amendment, 14 Labour MPs voted against it. Similarly,
Yvette Cooper’s plan to have MPs spend next Tuesday debating her Bill directing the Prime Minister to seek an extension to the Article 50 period was
thwarted by 321 votes to 298 - a majority of 23. 17 Conservative MPs backed her, but 14 Labour MPs actively opposed her and the number of Labour abstentions hitting double figures.
There was one vote in which the Government failed to get its way - a non-binding assertion rejecting the notion of leaving the EU without a deal, tabled by
Dame Caroline Spelman. It passed by a majority of 8 - not entirely surprising given that almost all MPs of all hues do indeed want a deal and that they ration their rebellions for the divisions that really count.
And when it to came to the all important
Brady amendment, Tory and Labour rebels virtually cancelled each other out as the House of Commons MPs
endorsed it with a majority of 16, sending a direct message to Brussels that they can
expect Theresa May back at the negotiating table with a demand for a better deal.
My analysis of all last night’s votes
can be seen here.
Defying the Labour whip in six of those seven votes was Labour Leave stalwart
Graham Stringer, who writes for us today with reflections on recent events. “It has always been an essential part of our democracy that all votes are equal and that the minority accepts the majority decision,” he writes; but “both these fundamentals are being challenged by the
political establishment of left and right whose
sense of entitlement has overtaken their sense of democracy,” he concludes.
Click here to read his piece - and Graham will be speaking at a Bruges Group event alongside
Priti Patel and
John Redwoodin Westminster at lunchtime today (details
here).
Back to last night’s events and responding to the results,
Theresa May rose in the Commons to confirm she would now seek “
legally binding changes” to her deal:
“It is now clear that there is a route that can secure a substantial and sustainable majority in this House for leaving the EU with a deal. We will now take this mandate forward and seek to obtain legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement that deal with concerns on the backstop while guaranteeing no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland… As well as making clear what changes it needs to approve the withdrawal agreement, the House has also reconfirmed its view that it does not want to leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement and future framework. I agree that we should not leave without a deal. However, simply opposing no deal is not enough to stop it. The Government will now redouble their efforts to get a deal that this House can support.”
Watch her reaction in full
here.
So the ball is very much now in the EU’s court. The House of Commons has shown what kind of deal could command a majority, although the early signs last night were that
Brussels is intent on being intransigent. A spokesman for European Council President
Donald Tusk welcomed “the UK Parliament’s ambition to avoid a no-deal scenario”, but added:
“The Withdrawal Agreement is and remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The backstop is part of the Withdrawal Agreement, and the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation.”
All of which means that if the EU is not willing to play ball, then the prospect of
an exit on WTO terms very much remains a distinct possibility and preparations for that eventuality must continue apace.
Theresa May will be back in the Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions at midday today, while also taking place in Parliament today we have:
Dominic Raab giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Select Committee at 9.30am on the Withdrawal Agreement and the backstop; an International Trade Committee session at 10am on the progress being made on
rolling over EU Association Agreements for which the Foreign Office is responsible;
Steve Baker is before the European Scrutiny Committee at 2.30pm; and the
Trade Bill back in the Lords for Day 3 of Committee Stage after 3.30pm. And by a happy coincidence, MEPs in the European Parliament in Brussels are holding a debate on Brexit this afternoon, with an intervention expected from European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker.
As ever, do
follow BrexitCentral on Twitter to keep abreast of all the latest developments as they happen.
Jonathan Isaby
Editor, BrexitCentral
@isaby
