MPs set out plan to test Brexit options

LONDON: MPs will take part in a series of paper ballots today (Wednesday) in a bid to work out what kind of Brexit has a chance of winning the support of the House of Commons, it has been confirmed.MPs were to put forward their preferred options by the end of Tuesday, with Commons Speaker John Bercow selecting those to be put to a series of indicative Yes-or-No votes over the course of half an hour the following evening.Further debate and votes on the most popular alternatives will be staged on Monday to try to whittle the list down. Shortly before the votes, Prime Minister Theresa May will face Tory MPs at a meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee as she battles to save her premiership and her Brexit deal.It was unclear whether the government would table May’s Withdrawal Agreement as one of the options for tonight’s votes, when options on the table may include a no-deal departure, a Norway-style close relationship with the EU or halting Brexit by revoking the Article 50 process.On Monday, MPs will debate a petition calling for Brexit to be halted by revoking the UK’s withdrawal letter under Article 50 of the EU treaties. The Commons Petitions Committee said that the petition, which passed 5.75 million signatures on Tuesday evening, had received more support than any other in the history of the parliamentary website. The debate will take place in the Commons’ secondary chamber Westminster Hall.The prospect of MPs voting for a soft Brexit or second referendum appears to be winning some Tory Eurosceptics round to reluctantly backing May’s deal, but there has been widespread speculation that others might demand May sets out the timetable for her departure as the price for their support.Meanwhile, May was braced for further Commons revolts today, with cabinet ministers demanding free votes on the various Brexit options set to be presented and Eurosceptics poised to reject the domestic legislation delaying the date of the UK’s exit from the EU.Four members of the European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, led by Sir Bill Cash, wrote to May warning of “serious legal objections” to her decision to delay Brexit beyond March 29.Their letter, also signed by Michael Tomlinson and ex-ministers Suella Braverman and David Jones, said the extension agreed at last week’s EU summit could amount to an unlawful use of the Royal Prerogative and a breach of the Vienna Convention on treaties.The government’s attempt to secure MPs’ approval after the event has “called into question the lawfulness of its actions and has at minimum created serious legal doubts about the legal situation surrounding the extension,” they said.The government defeat on Monday night saw three ministers resign as 30 Tories rebelled to back Sir Oliver Letwin’s amendment to give MPs control of the Commons agenda in order to seek a Brexit plan which can command a majority.But Eurosceptics who have previously opposed the Withdrawal Agreement signalled they could now back it, with influential backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg saying “the choice seems to be May’s deal or no Brexit”.“I have always thought that no deal is better than May’s deal, but May’s deal is better than not leaving at all,” the ERG chairman said on a ConservativeHome podcast. He added that Brexit may now be a “process rather than an event” and it could take time to fully break away from Brussels.Former whip Michael Fabricant said he had reached the same “dreadful conclusion” on May’s deal and a new prime minister would be able to negotiate a “better and more distanced relationship” with the EU after Brexit.ERG member Daniel Kawczynski said there was “definitely a palpable shift” among Leavers deciding they must come together behind May’s deal as “the least worst option”.After a marathon cabinet meeting lasting more than two hours, May’s official spokesman said: “If we are able to hold and win a vote this week, we would then be able to leave the EU in less than two months’ time with a deal, which the Prime Minister firmly believes is what the public wants.”It was “extremely unlikely” the deal would return today but it would need to be held this week in order to guarantee meeting the terms set by the EU for the extension of Article 50 to the new Brexit day on May 22.”

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