Today has not been a good day for the government. The government’s decision last week to be so explicit that the Northern Ireland clauses of its Internal Market Bill would break international law in a ‘specific and limited way’ has caused all sorts of problems. First, it created a Tory backbench rebellion on the issue. A chunk of Tory MPs felt that the government’s position meant that they just could not support the legislation as proposed. The government has today pacified this rebellion by agreeing to table an amendment ensuring that the Commons would get a vote before these clauses are used. It is not a massive climbdown — the government has a majority in the Commons after all — but it is a sign of how badly Downing Street misread Tory parliamentary opinion on this matter.
Second, the frankness of the government’s position made life particularly difficult for the law officers and the Lord Chancellor.
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