Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Wednesday

13 Mar 2019

The Brexiteers have blown it | 13 March 2019

If, as Rod Liddle says, Brexit has been killed there is no shortage of suspects. 75 of them, in fact. That’s the number of Conservative MPs who voted against the Government in last night’s second – but not necessarily final – meaningful vote. They wanted Brexit and then, when they were given it, they decided it wasn’t the kind of Brexit they wanted after all. Fanaticism invariably devours its adherents and so it is with Brexit. The Brexiteers wanted the ball but once they had it they decided they did not actually want it after all. They had their chance and they blew it. All they had to do was

Steerpike

Chief Whip Julian Smith’s small win

At the end of last year, Mr Steerpike was somewhat sceptical that it was a good idea to invite an ITV film crew into the whips’ office, as Theresa May headed for a defeat of historic proportions on the first vote on her Brexit deal. When Chief Whip Julian Smith failed to convince the backbencher Philip Davies to back the deal, live on camera, this only seemed to confirm that it wasn’t exactly the best decision: Perhaps an apology is in order though. Mr S can report that although Davies did not back May’s deal first time round, last night he was finally won over and supported the Prime Minister in

Tuesday

12 Mar 2019

Johannes de Jong

Why the EU is so keen for Theresa May’s Brexit deal to pass

In recent weeks, two big beasts in the European political arena pushed forward their respective ideas for the future of the European Union. France’s president Emmanuel Macron repeated his dream of a big EU. And the leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer responded in kind with a vision of an EU that is larger than it is now but smaller than the EU ‘a la Macron’. In both visions, the reality of Brexit was conspicuously absent. The decision to ignore Brexit in these visions of the future EU is easily understood if one gets the updated ‘deal’ that Theresa May struck with the EU overnight. ‘This is it’,

Charles Day

The silence from Geoffrey Cox bodes ill for May’s deal

The loudest sound this morning is the silence from Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney-General. The test for Theresa May’s discussion with Brussels is whether it means the UK will be caught indefinitely in the backstop. And the person who decides this is Mr Cox. No10 misrepresented the nature of the backstop when it was signed: some (then) Cabinet members go further and say that they were lied to. Then No10’s own representation of the Withdrawal Agreement was contradicted by the Attorney-General. This is what led us to this point: No10 has, alas, proved that it cannot be trusted to interpret legal advice. Cox has proven that he can be trusted. Cox

Her Majesty’s Government

Full text: Theresa May’s ‘unilateral declaration’ on the Northern Ireland backstop

Declaration by Her Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the Northern Ireland Protocol The United Kingdom reiterates its wish to establish a future partnership that is as close and strong as possible, given the global challenges it shares with the European Union, and underlines its commitment to embark on preparations immediately after the signature of the Withdrawal Agreement to ensure that negotiations on the future relationship can start as soon as possible after withdrawal. In that light, the United Kingdom notes, subject to Article 1(4) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, that the objective of the Withdrawal Agreement is not to establish a

Rod Liddle

Brexit is now dead

And that, my lovely friends, is it for Brexit. You kippers and ERGers who think we’ll leave with no deal, are deluded. They will not let it happen. They were never going to let it happen. Brexit has been killed by a Parliament which by a two-to-one majority never wanted it, despite what lip service they paid to respecting the will of the people. The liberal elite has won. I suspect it will be its last victory before it is expunged.

James Forsyth

Why we could be heading for a third vote on May’s Brexit deal

Late last night, there was a sense of optimism among ministers that the government’s revised deal might have a chance. But those hopes were crushed this morning by Geoffrey Cox’s blunt legal advice. With Cox declaring that the legal risk was unchanged, the DUP were never going to back the deal and that meant the bulk of the ERG wouldn’t either. In the end, the withdrawal agreement went down by 149 votes—at the worst end of expectations. May immediately declared that there would be a vote on no deal tomorrow, and it would be a free vote. May’s justification for this was the referendum precedent, but for the governing party

The Spectator

Full text: Theresa May reacts to her Brexit deal defeat

I profoundly regret the decision that this House has taken tonight. I continue to believe that by far the best outcome is that the UK leaves the EU in an orderly fashion with a deal, and that the deal we have negotiated is the best and indeed the only deal available. Mr Speaker, I would like to set out briefly how the Government means to proceed. Two weeks ago, I made a series of commitments from this despatch box regarding the steps we would take in the event that this House rejected the deal on offer. I stand by those commitments in full. Therefore, tonight we will table a motion

The Spectator

The full list of Tory MPs that backed May’s Brexit deal

Theresa May has suffered another thumping defeat on her Brexit deal. This time, she lost by a margin of 149. But she did manage to whittle down the number of Tory rebels significantly. In tonight’s vote, 235 of May’s fellow Conservative MPs backed her Brexit plan. Here is the full list of the Tory rebels who changed their minds to back May: David Amess, Bob Blackman, Fiona Bruce, Ben Bradley, Graham Brady, Maria Caulfield, Tracey Crouch, Philip Davies, David Davis, Nadine Dorries, Steve Double, Nigel Evans, David Evennett, Zac Goldsmith, Robert Halfon, Greg Hands, John Hayes, Greg Knight, John Lamont, Tim Loughton, Scott Mann, Stephen McPartland, Johnny Mercer, Stephen Metcalfe, Nigel Mills, Andrew Mitchell, Damien Moore, Matthew Offord, Mike Penning, Mark Pritchard, Will Quince, Julian Sturdy, Hugo Swire, Robert Syms, Derek Thomas, Martin Vickers, Giles Watling, Bill Wiggin. William Wragg And the other Tory MPs who again voted

The Spectator

The Tory MPs who voted against May’s deal

Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement has once again been defeated in the House of Commons, by 391 to 242 votes. Below are the 75 Tory MPs who defied the whip to vote against her deal: Adam Afriyie Lucy Allan Richard Bacon Steve Baker John Baron Guto Bebb Crispin Blunt Peter Bone Suella Braverman Andrew Bridgen Conor Burns William Cash Rehman Chishti Christopher Chope Simon Clarke Damian Collins Robert Courts Richard Drax James Duddridge Iain Duncan Smith Charlie Elphicke Michael Fabricant Michael Fallon Mark Francois Marcus Fysh James Gray Chris Green Justine Greening Dominic Grieve Sam Gyimah Mark Harper Gordon Henderson Philip Hollobone Adam Holloway Eddie Hughes Ranil Jayawardena Bernard Jenkin Andrea

Tom Goodenough

Theresa May’s Brexit deal defeated again in the Commons

Theresa May’s revised Brexit deal has been voted down decisively by MPs. The Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement was defeated by 391 to 242 votes, a margin of 149 votes. May had said if her ‘improved’ deal did not pass, there was a risk of ‘no Brexit at all’. But while the number of Tory rebels was down on the first meaningful vote, which the Government lost by a margin of 230, it wasn’t enough for the PM’s deal to pass. May reacted to the defeat by promising a free vote in the Commons tomorrow on whether MPs would back a no-deal Brexit. On Thursday, May said that the Commons would vote

Steerpike

Boris Johnson: Why I won’t vote for Theresa May’s Brexit deal

Boris Johnson says he will still vote against Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Here is his verdict on the PM’s revised Withdrawal Agreement: I sincerely hoped that the Government would be able to make the wholly modest changes that this House urged them to make. And that there would be no risk that this country would find itself trapped in the backstop or no risk that we would lose our democratic right to make laws for this country, or pass them to a foreign entity for all time as we’re in danger of doing. But whatever the Government tried to do it has not I’m afraid succeeded. Now I congratulate the Prime

Steerpike

Corbyn backs no-deal Brexit

When it comes to Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn is still keeping his options open. But the same can’t be said of his brother. Piers Corbyn has taken a breather from tweeting about climate change to throw his weight behind a no-deal Brexit. The Labour leader’s older sibling wrote: ‘The threat of CrashOut catastrophe is nonsense’. ‘Nodeal OnlyDeal’, he added: Mr S. thinks it might be awkward in the Corbyn family if Jeremy does end up backing a second referendum…

Katy Balls

European Research Group split over vote on May’s revamped deal

How heavily will Theresa May’s deal be defeated this evening? After the DUP announced that they would not be backing the deal in light of the new concessions, it looks near impossible for it to pass this evening. However, there is still much to play for when it comes to managing the size of the defeat. The so-called ‘star chamber’ of Brexiteer legal minds have said that the changes to the deal fall short of what was asked of May. This is in line with the Attorney General’s legal advice – which warned the risk of being trapped in the backstop remained. Yet despite this there has been a steady

Isabel Hardman

DUP confirms it won’t support May’s Brexit deal

The DUP has confirmed that it will be voting against Theresa May’s Brexit deal this evening. A party spokesman said that ‘sufficient progress has not been achieved at this time’ and that ‘it is clear that the risks remain that the UK would be unable to lawfully exit the backstop were it to be activated’. Along with the European Research Group’s recommendation to vote down the deal, this means that the Prime Minister’s strategy of trying to win over the DUP and the Brexiteers in her own party has failed. It means that she is facing a landslide defeat tonight. The Commons benches behind the Prime Minister as she is

James Kirkup

MPs were elected to lead, but they are opting for turmoil and disaster

Whether Britain leaves the European Union and the manner of that departure, are the most consequential decisions that British politicians will face for a generation. The choices our leaders and representatives are making this week are as important as any they will make in their careers. And as things stand, with the European Research Group of Conservative MPs and most Labour MPs pledging to vote against the proposed Withdrawal Agreement, the House of Commons will tonight deliberately and knowingly vote for the country to take an economic, political and constitutional leap into the unknown. MPs who were elected to lead will instead bring the country’s future down to the roll

Katy Balls

Geoffrey Cox’s legal verdict deals big blow to May’s revamped deal

In a rare interview over the weekend, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told the Mail on Sunday that he would not be pushed into giving dubious legal advice on the backstop. He said he would ‘not change’ his opinion unless he was certain there was ‘no legal risk of us being indefinitely detained in the backstop’; ‘My professional reputation is far more important to me than my reputation as a politician. If the risk of being trapped in the backstop had not been removed, then I would make it as clear and plain and in exactly the same way as I did on November 13.’ Today that promise has come to fruition

Steerpike

Geoffrey Cox clashes with Channel 4’s Jon Snow

It’s here. It’s Brexit day, again. And Channel 4’s Jon Snow and Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney-General, have come to blows on Twitter. Snow tweeted the latest from his ‘lawyer contact’ this morning on what Cox’s verdict is on the Prime Minister’s verdict. It’s safe to say Cox was not impressed: Well, at least that’s cleared that up then. Mr S thinks Theresa May will be hoping that Cox isn’t quite so rude when it comes to him delivering the verdict on her Brexit deal…

Robert Peston

Theresa May has failed to guarantee the backstop won’t last forever

Those Tory Brexiter MPs who WANT to believe the EU has no desire to trap the UK in the customs union via the Northern Ireland backstop will be reassured by the agreement between Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker on a new legal instrument saying the EU must negotiate in good faith to avoid the backstop coming into force at all, or for long. They will also be encouraged by a change to the UK/EU political declaration that will step up work on putting in place alternative arrangements to obviate the need for the backstop – and by the UK government’s declaration of what it would do to get out of

Katy Balls

What Theresa May needs to go right today to avoid another historic defeat

In order to turn things around with her Brexit deal, Theresa May needs a domino effect. She needs to somehow get 116 MPs to change their vote from last time and back her deal. If the Prime Minister is to have any chance of passing her deal – or significantly reducing the scale of the defeat from 230 votes – May must first convince the DUP that the legally-binding concessions she has secured from Brussels are enough to stop the backstop from becoming permanent. The Attorney General’s legal advice could prove pivotal in the matter (and there are doubts in government that he will change it) – though given that

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