Third Brexit deal vote in doubt unless 'significant' changes are made
UK Prime minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal looks dead in the water after a third vote on her withdrawal agreement was ruled out unless it is significantly changed.
As Ms May met with members of the DUP yesterday in a bid to get them on side, House of Commons speaker John Bercow made a shock ruling that the prime minister cannot bring her EU withdrawal agreement back before MPs unless it is substantially different from the package which was decisively defeated last week.
The move, which caught Ms May off guard, means the only realistic option now available is to seek a long-term Brexit extension from EU leaders on Thursday.
The prime minister had been expected to make a last-ditch attempt to get her deal through the Commons, effectively presenting MPs with a choice between the withdrawal agreement, which they have already rejected twice, or a long wait for Brexit.
Mr Bercow’s ruling makes that plan impossible, unless Ms May is able to negotiate some significant changes to her deal before presenting it once more to MPs.
Last night, a spokesperson for Tánaiste Simon Coveney stressed that the EU “couldn’t be clearer” that there would be “no new negotiations”, scuppering any chances of Ms May securing the changes to table another House of Commons ballot.
As the possibility of a crash-out Brexit increases with each passing day, the Government is due to sign off on a special Brexit package for hundreds of millions of euro to protect incomes, jobs, and exports tomorrow.
In Brussels, Tánaiste Simon Coveney will today meet with fellow members of the General Affairs Council in Brussels to discuss a possible Brexit extension. He will also meet with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, this afternoon to “compare notes” on any possible extension to Article 50.
Meanwhile, EU Council president Donald Tusk will meet Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin today where the two will also discuss Brexit and a possible request from Britain to extend the March 29 deadline.
Agriculture Minister Michael Creed yesterday used a Council of Agriculture Ministers meeting to warn his EU counterparts of the profoundly negative effect a disorderly Brexit would have on this country.
“The Irish agri-food sector will be uniquely affected, with beef particularly exposed,” Mr Creed told the meeting. “The impact is likely to be immediate, and without support, at least in the short term, many of our beef farmers will struggle to survive.”
Mr Varadkar is to fly to Brussels on Thursday for what is expected to be a crunch meeting of EU leaders, including Ms May.
However, with just 10 days to go to the scheduled date of Brexit, Britain is no clearer about how, when, or if it will be leaving the EU — and yesterday’s ruling added further uncertainty and increased the threat of a no-deal Brexit.
Citing a convention dating back to 1604, Mr Bercow told the House of Commons that the same withdrawal agreement cannot be voted upon again in this parliamentary session.
“If the government wishes to bring forward a new proposition that is neither the same nor substantially the same as that disposed of by the House on March 12, this would be entirely in order,” Mr Bercow told the House of Commons.
“What the government cannot legitimately do is resubmit to the House the same proposition — or substantially the same proposition — as that of last week, which was rejected by 149 votes.
This ruling should not be regarded as my last word on the subject. It is simply meant to indicate the test which the government must meet in order for me to rule that a third meaningful vote can legitimately be held in this parliamentary session.
Speaking in Brussels Mr Coveney said the ruling was a surprise but that he expects Ms May will ask for a long extension to Article 50 at Thursday’s EU summit.
