At first, it seems fanciful. A backbench MP, Nick Boles, proposes to take power away from the government and place it in the hands of MPs, to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
Can one backbencher usurp power in this way? It’s ambitious. But under the British system, government reports to parliament, not the other way around. Usually the distinction is moot, because government can control the Commons. But when that control collapses, every kind of mischief becomes possible.
Until a couple of months ago I was director of legislative affairs under Theresa May in No. 10, where it was my job to look at parliamentary procedures. It’s quite a minefield. Right now, the civil servants will be asking what it means to have ‘parliament’ take control — and whether the likes of Oliver Letwin and Nicky Morgan could outsmart the government. They’ll find the Boles plan radical, in places peculiar, but certainly threatening.
As things stand, Britain will leave the EU without a deal on 29 March: parliament authorised this when Article 50 was triggered.
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