At 3pm yesterday afternoon, the Remainer rebels led by Dominic Grieve thought the government was honouring the PM’s putative commitment to draft an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill in the spirit of Grieve’s amendment.
At 4.45, Grieve was told by an embarrassed solicitor general Robert Buckland that the deal was off.
The Remainer rebels are not happy. And the scene is set for a final parliamentary showdown on the “meaningful vote” issue, in the Lords on Monday and the Commons on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Here is what happened and what was at stake. It is complicated so please bear with me.
The contentious amendment clause was all about the role and power of parliament in the event the PM has not agreed a Brexit deal with the EU by 21 January next year (which was earlier than Grieve preferred date of 15 February but accepted by him).
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