Pragmatism needed on Brexit

For the sake of Britain, members of the House of Commons cannot afford to ignore Theresa May’s warning about a protracted and potentially indefinite delay to Brexit if they fail to agree to a deal this week. Mrs May has much to answer for over the shambles Brexit has become. As Greg Sheridan has written, it has made Britain a laughing stock. But with next week’s March 29 Brexit deadline looming, she is correct to point out that MPs from all sides have only themselves to blame for a situation in which, having twice rejected her agreement with Brussels — the only viable deal on the table for a negotiated exit — they have brought Britain to a point where Brexit could be delayed indefinitely.

That is not what the British people voted for in the June 2016 referendum. Having specifically ruled out a “no-deal Brexit’’ of any kind last week, MPs will be compounding what Mrs May terms their “collective political failure” if they do not use the little time remaining to achieve a plausible consensus.

In a final throw of the dice, Mrs May will submit her deal to parliament for a third time later this week. There are signs some of her most trenchant critics among Conservative Party Brexit hardliners such as Jacob Rees-Mogg are softening. Matthew Elliott, one of the architects of the Leave campaign, said: “If MPs vote down the withdrawal agreement for a third time, Brexit probably won’t happen. But if MPs do allow the vote to pass, we will leave in a matter of weeks … we will be free of the EU’s political institutions.”

Mrs May is hoping the imminent deadline, the House of Commons’ clear majority against a no-deal Brexit and the threat to the dreams of Brexiteer Conservatives — that Britain may never leave the EU — will persuade them to support her deal as the last chance to salvage Brexit.

After the bizarre recent shenanigans in the House of Commons, she should not count on it, however. Mrs May is far from alone in bearing responsibility for the current farce. The chaos that has overtaken the Conservative Party was highlighted by the antics of Stephen Barclay, a senior member of Mrs May’s cabinet who is her Brexit Secretary and responsible for dealing with Brussels. Mr Barclay assured himself a place in the annals of political absurdity by voting against a government motion he had just moved — opposing an extension to Article 50 that he had, on behalf of the government, argued was in the national interest. The muddle in the Tory party would trump Yes Minister.

The hard-Left Labour Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn also distinguished himself with inconsistent antics. After arguing for days in favour of a second Brexit referendum, he then ordered his MPs to abstain when a referendum motion came up for a vote

The deal EU leaders agreed with Mrs May is far from perfect. But it is the only deal on the table that promises a negotiated exit from the EU. Instead of blaming her for not securing the kind of Brexit they wanted, rebel MPs would do better to ensure a protracted delay to the entire Brexit process does not become a reality. Once a withdrawal agreement has been passed, there will be plenty of opportunity to reshape the UK’s future relationships with Europe and other nations, through new agreements and trade deals with countries such as Australia.