BBC Online :
Theresa May has refused to rule out another Commons vote on her Brexit deal if MPs reject it the first time.
The PM said she thought she could win the vote on 11 December despite dozens of Tory MPs being against the deal. In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, she urged MPs to “deliver on the vote of the referendum”.
EU Council President Donald Tusk warned if MPs rejected the deal, the UK would face a choice between leaving without a deal or not leaving at all.
Under Commons rules, the prime minister is not meant to ask MPs the same question twice – she would have to change the contents of her deal.
Alternatively, if enough MPs indicate they have changed their minds after voting the deal down, it could be held again, but it would be up to the Speaker to decide whether to allow that.
Pressed by Laura Kuenssberg on whether she would attempt to hold another vote, Mrs May – who is in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a G20 summit of world leaders – said: “I’m focused on the vote that is taking place on 11 December and I want everybody who’s going to participate, all members of Parliament, to focus on what this vote does.” Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he did not now expect any Labour MPs to vote for Mrs May’s deal, telling Talk Radio he thinks the party will “hold together”.
The Labour leadership has said it is ready to support a cross-party amendment to the vote that would explicitly rule out a no-deal. The amendment would not be binding but it would be hard for the PM to ignore it, if it is passed by Parliament. European Council President Donald Tusk, meanwhile, has stressed that the deal the EU struck with Theresa May was the “only possible one”. He said: “If this deal is rejected in the Commons, we are left with, as was stressed a few weeks ago from Prime Minister May, an alternative – no deal or no Brexit at all.” But a senior UK official said: “Right from the very outset, Donald Tusk has not hidden the fact that he finds (Brexit) a moment of sadness for himself and for the EU.
“But the prime minister has always been very clear to President Tusk that we are leaving on 29 March next year.” Well, the EU is watching and waiting. Arms folded. “It’s groundhog day in this negotiation process,” an EU diplomat told me. “We (the EU) are again on the outside, watching the UK debate with itself, unsure of what direction to head in. They voted to leave. We’ve even got an exit deal on the table now but still the UK is undecided.”
It is widely expected that MPs will reject the EU withdrawal agreement and blueprint for a future trade deal agreed with the EU.
In anticipation of this happening, some MPs are trying to mobilise support for the so-called “Norway Plus” option, which they claim could win support across the House of Commons.
Under their plan, the current withdrawal agreement would be honoured but the UK would seek to rejoin the European Free Trade Association (Efta), which it belonged to before entering the European Economic Community in 1973 – on an indefinite basis. If Efta’s existing members – Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland – agreed, it would allow the UK to retain membership of the customs union and full access to the single market. Advocates of the plan say the UK would still be outside the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy – but it would also mean continued free movement of people.
Mrs May said this kind of deal would not fulfil the referendum pledge to take back control of the UK’s borders, laws and money. Meanwhile three former Labour foreign secretaries have warned of the damage to British influence around the world if the UK leaves the EU. David Miliband, Jack Straw and Margaret Beckett told the Financial Times they all backed the People’s Vote campaign for another referendum.
Theresa May has refused to rule out another Commons vote on her Brexit deal if MPs reject it the first time.
The PM said she thought she could win the vote on 11 December despite dozens of Tory MPs being against the deal. In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, she urged MPs to “deliver on the vote of the referendum”.
EU Council President Donald Tusk warned if MPs rejected the deal, the UK would face a choice between leaving without a deal or not leaving at all.
Under Commons rules, the prime minister is not meant to ask MPs the same question twice – she would have to change the contents of her deal.
Alternatively, if enough MPs indicate they have changed their minds after voting the deal down, it could be held again, but it would be up to the Speaker to decide whether to allow that.
Pressed by Laura Kuenssberg on whether she would attempt to hold another vote, Mrs May – who is in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a G20 summit of world leaders – said: “I’m focused on the vote that is taking place on 11 December and I want everybody who’s going to participate, all members of Parliament, to focus on what this vote does.” Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he did not now expect any Labour MPs to vote for Mrs May’s deal, telling Talk Radio he thinks the party will “hold together”.
The Labour leadership has said it is ready to support a cross-party amendment to the vote that would explicitly rule out a no-deal. The amendment would not be binding but it would be hard for the PM to ignore it, if it is passed by Parliament. European Council President Donald Tusk, meanwhile, has stressed that the deal the EU struck with Theresa May was the “only possible one”. He said: “If this deal is rejected in the Commons, we are left with, as was stressed a few weeks ago from Prime Minister May, an alternative – no deal or no Brexit at all.” But a senior UK official said: “Right from the very outset, Donald Tusk has not hidden the fact that he finds (Brexit) a moment of sadness for himself and for the EU.
“But the prime minister has always been very clear to President Tusk that we are leaving on 29 March next year.” Well, the EU is watching and waiting. Arms folded. “It’s groundhog day in this negotiation process,” an EU diplomat told me. “We (the EU) are again on the outside, watching the UK debate with itself, unsure of what direction to head in. They voted to leave. We’ve even got an exit deal on the table now but still the UK is undecided.”
It is widely expected that MPs will reject the EU withdrawal agreement and blueprint for a future trade deal agreed with the EU.
In anticipation of this happening, some MPs are trying to mobilise support for the so-called “Norway Plus” option, which they claim could win support across the House of Commons.
Under their plan, the current withdrawal agreement would be honoured but the UK would seek to rejoin the European Free Trade Association (Efta), which it belonged to before entering the European Economic Community in 1973 – on an indefinite basis. If Efta’s existing members – Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland – agreed, it would allow the UK to retain membership of the customs union and full access to the single market. Advocates of the plan say the UK would still be outside the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy – but it would also mean continued free movement of people.
Mrs May said this kind of deal would not fulfil the referendum pledge to take back control of the UK’s borders, laws and money. Meanwhile three former Labour foreign secretaries have warned of the damage to British influence around the world if the UK leaves the EU. David Miliband, Jack Straw and Margaret Beckett told the Financial Times they all backed the People’s Vote campaign for another referendum.
