The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
May looking to fast-track deal through parliament
BREXIT: PM urges MPs to ‘hold their nerve’ as she seeks changes from EU to backstop
Theresa May has set out plans to short circuit parliamentary rules in order to get a Brexit deal ratified in time for the UK to leave the EU on March 29.
The prime minister told MPs that she would enable the House of Commons to lift a requirement for a 21-day delay before any vote to approve an international treaty.
But Labour pledged to oppose the move, accusing the government of showing “contempt for our democracy”.
The announcement came as Mrs May urged MPs to “hold their nerve” and support her efforts to secure a withdrawal deal.
In a statement updating the Commons on progress in talks, Mrs May acknowledged she would need “some time” to seek legally-binding changes from the EU to the controversial backstop for the Irish border.
She confirmed that she will table an amendable motion for debate tomorrow, seeking the House’s continued support for her to demand “alternative arrangements” to keep the border open after Brexit.
And she pledged to return on February 26 with a further statement – triggering another debate and votes the following day – if she has not secured a deal by that date.
If a deal is agreed, MPs will have a second “meaningful vote”, like the one in January which saw Mrs May’s original plan rejected by a record-breaking 230 votes.
However, a cross-party group of MPs has said that if there is not a deal at that point, they will launch another attempt to force the government to reach a decision on Brexit by mid-March at the latest.
The group, including Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Tory former ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Nick Boles, said their plan was designed to prevent the country drifting into a no-deal Brexit “by accident”.
They intend to put down an amendment creating parliamentary time for a bill requiring the prime minister and parliament to decide by mid-March whether the UK is leaving with a deal, without a deal or whether it will seek an extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process.
The February 27 votes are expected to come shortly after Mrs May’s planned meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, at which changes or additions to the Withdrawal Agreement could be agreed.
Labour Brexit spokesman Paul Blomfield said: “The government is trying to avoid proper scrutiny and run down the clock in order to force through its bad Brexit deal.”