British prime minister Theresa May on Tuesday narrowly avoided House of Commons defeat on a bid by pro-European Conservative MPs to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU if no trade deal is reached by January 21 2019.
MPs voted 307 to 301 to overturn the rebel amendment to the trade bill. Mrs May’s victory was delivered thanks to the votes of four Eurosceptic Labour MPs, who voted with the government, rebelling against their own party. 12 pro-EU Tory MPs voted against the government.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Tory Eurosceptics led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, forced Mrs May to accept their amendments to the customs bill that was backed by the Commons in a narrow 305 to 302 vote. That followed a tumultuous week that saw foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis both resign in protest over Mrs May’s painfully constructed Brexit plan, claiming Mrs May was failing to deliver the clean break from the EU the public voted for in the 2016 EU referendum.
Mrs May pushed her vision of the Brexit through Cabinet on July 6. The Chequers agreement, named after the prime minister’s countryside retreat, shifted the government’s position in a soft Brexit direction.
The prime minister’s white paper, which is based on the Chequers agreement, envisages a deal with the EU whereby Britain would keep regulatory alignment with the bloc on goods while having more flexibility on services, which represent 80 per cent of the British economy. This includes financial services led by the City of London. Tory Eurosceptics suspect that Mrs May will have to make more concessions to Brussels to secure a business-friendly exit deal.
Mrs May still hopes to present the final Brexit deal to parliament in the autumn. However, the possibility arises that she will be unable to secure a Commons majority for either her Brexit deal or no deal. In those circumstances she would have to ask for an extension of the Article 50 two-year exit process or she would be forced by parliament to hold another general election, which might well prove inconclusive, providing neither a parliamentary majority nor clear direction on Brexit. A second EU referendum, therefore, could emerge as the only viable option to break the impasse at Westminster on the matter.
Justine Greening, former education secretary, has proposed a new three-way referendum, asking voters to choose between Mrs May’s Chequers plan, a no-deal Brexit or no Brexit at all.
Photo:@Number10
