In the Commons this morning, William Hague confirmed Coffee House’s story that the government will hold its vote on opting back into the European Arrest Warrant on Monday. He said the joint committee working on the relevant statutory instrument hadn’t finished working, but that the House of Commons would vote on it on Monday.
But the troublesome pre-Rochester rebellion is apparently shrinking, MPs tell me. Those on both sides expect only around 30 rebels against the government now, where previously up to 100 had been expected.
There are a number of reasons for the fall in numbers. The first and least significant is that holding it before the Rochester by-election does stop an angry free-for-all after a loss in that seat where backbenchers use a revolt to express their anger that the Tories were unable to hold a constituency not considered particularly Ukip-friendly.
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