Commons vote pins a ‘badge of shame’ on Theresa May
The power tussle between the British government and parliament now threatens to upend constitutional stability.
Brexit, if it is possible, has just got even more complicated. After a historically horrid day for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative party, the power tussle between government and parliament now threatens to upend constitutional stability.
Mrs May’s Brexit deal suffered another sharp blow last night following the release of legal advice provided to her cabinet.
The advice reveals that if the Brexit deal goes through, Britain would have to have a separate customs declarations with Northern Ireland. This has previously not been made clear to the public.
The revelation came a day after the Tories were found in contempt of parliament for the first time in centuries of Westminster democracy. Their loss of three votes in the House of Commons on Tuesday was the first succession of such government defeats in four decades.
The Commons voted 311-293 to censure the government for not publishing the full legal advice it received from Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox about Mrs May’s divorce deal with the EU. That followed the first, more procedural defeat when, the government lost a bid to have the legal advice issue dealt with separately by a the privileges committee.
The Democratic Unionist Party, whose 10 seats give the Torys control of the house, crossed the floor, showing it does not fear an election.
The loss, the first time a British government has been found in contempt of parliament, saw it reverse course and promise to table last night the full legal advice given to the cabinet.
That legal advice shows that if Britain can extricate itself from the EU customs union, then Northern Ireland will be left with the EU.
Mr Cox ‘s advice shows that it is impossible for Britain to get out of the backstop arrangements, even with best endeavours, as the wording of the deal guarantees the country is locked into it without a superseding agreement.
Labour Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer earlier said the finding of contempt was “a badge of shame’’, but Mrs May accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of orchestrating such a result.
Mrs May’s unpopular Brexit withdrawal deal has brought together some of the most different ideologues. Tory Brexiteers side with Labour Remainers in their joint horror of the deal, ripping apart traditional voting patterns.
But the third parliamentary defeat for the Tories, an amendment to allow MPs to draft a “Plan B” if Mrs May’s bill is voted down next Tuesday, changes the dynamics of the debate in a way that is, strangely, favourable to Mrs May. Tory whips believe Mrs May’s deal will be defeated by about 80 votes. But the successful amendment from Tory Remainer and former attorney-general Dominic Grieve gives parliament more power in tabling amendments if the bill is voted down.
Parliament can now push for different Brexit options or introduce a second referendum, an attractive proposition to those wanting a softer Brexit or none at all. This enhanced prospect of having no Brexit at all may sway some of Mrs May’s critics within her party to back her deal after all, although yesterday there was no sign of this from key Brexiteers.
If the parliament, which is in such turmoil, endures with amendments in conflict with the will of the referendum result there are fears the betrayal will result in chaos on the streets.
Mrs May stressed this choice and the prospect of mayhem in her opening of five days of Brexit debate before Tuesday’s vote.
“What it would say about the state of our democracy that the biggest vote in our history were to be re-run because the majority in this house didn’t like the outcome. And what it would do to that democracy and what forces it would unleash,” she said.
“This house voted to give the decision to the British people, this house promised we would honour their decision.
“If we betray that promise how can we expect them to trust us again?
“And even if we held the referendum what would it achieve?
“It wouldn’t bring the country together, it would divide us all over again.’’
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