The PM lost one vote on amendments to the trade bill - but avoided defeat on a bid to keep Britain tied to the customs union after Brexit
THERESA May saved her Premiership last night by fending off a pro-EU Tory rebellion – but only with the help of four Brexiteer Labour MPs.
In a knife edge Commons vote, the Government defeated a bid to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU by 307 versus 301.
If only four MPs had voted the other way, Mrs May’s entire negotiating strategy would have collapsed and she would be facing massive pressure to resign today.
But in a serious blow for the PM, 12 Tory rebels did inflict a defeat on the government by voting with Labour on a lesser point, by 305 to 301.
Former Tory minister Dr Philip Lee’s successful amendment forces the Government to keep on abiding by EU regulations on medicines.
Downing Street were left hugely relieved by the thinnest of victories, having feared the worst for much of the tense day.
One No10 source said: “The truth is nobody knew what was going to happen, or what the f*** we would have done if we’d lost”.
This victory was also deemed to be massive for Mrs May’s own personal credibility in Brussels.
It means she can now negotiate with the 27 other EU leader with them knowing she can - just about - command the will of the House of Commons.
It emerged last night that Downing Street also went to extreme lengths to peel away some Tory rebels and limit the rebellion — with Mrs May’s whips demanding they back her Brexit plans or face another General Election.
Chief Whip Julian Smith told them he was prepared to call a confidence vote in the Government today to overturn any defeat.
TONIGHT'S vote was the latest attempt by pro-EU MPs to tie Theresa May's hands in negotiations with Brussels.
The amendment to the trade bill was intended to make it more likely that Britain would stay in the EU customs union after Brexit.
It mandated ministers to keep the UK in the customs union if they failed to strike an agreement with the EU about post-Brexit trade by January 21 next year.
That would be a direct contradiction of the Tory manifesto, which vowed to keep Britain out of the customs union so we can strike trade deals around the world when we leave the EU.
If the amendment had passed, Mrs May would therefore have been plunged into a major political crisis.
Her Chequers plan for Brexit would almost certainly be dead - and she could even have faced a leadership challenge.
The PM will now be breathing a major sigh of relief at seeing off the rebellion, making it more likely she can make it to the summer holiday with her authority intact.
She did lose a vote on a separate amendment, tabled by ex-minister Phillip Lee, which calls for Britain to continute participating in the European Medicines Agency.
But that motion is much less important than the customs union one, meaning that the Government will be relatively unbothered by the defeat.
He was also ready to pull the entire Trade Bill from its final Third reading after the customs union vote to stop the key change becoming law.
In more suspected skulduggery, it also emerged that the Tories broke a voting pact between party chairman Brandon Lewis and a female Lib Dem MP on maternity leave for both of them to stay away.
Livid Jo Swinson tweeted text messages from government whips agreeing the pairing deal, only for Mr Lewis to walk through the lobbies to help bail out the Government.
He later told her: “I’m sorry Jo. I think it was an honest mistake.”
The rebellion came amid vicious feuding between the Conservative Party’s hardcore Remain and Leave wings, that has plunged it into outright civil war.
Pro-EU Tories - lead by ex-ministers Stephen Hammond and Nicky Morgan - wanted to force Mrs May into a backstop for her new Chequers blueprint for a softer Brexit.
Under it, she would agree to enter into a customs union with the EU if she failed to persuade Brussels to allow Britain a free trade area on goods by January 21, 2019.
Their move was tit for tat revenge for a Tory Brexiteers victory over the government on Monday that forced Mrs May to harden up her new plan, known as the Chequers blueprint.
Dr Fox said: “What does it say to the side we’re negotiating with, that if we can’t get a deal by a certain date we’ll give you what you want?
“MPs have to decide what message we’re sending to the EU27”.
Calling the rebel vote at 6.30pm last night, Mr Hammond told the Commons he was pushing the amendment “with a heavy heart”.
In extraordinary scenes just minutes before it, ministers began openly bartering with the rebels across the green benches in desperate last minute bid to coax them to climb down.
Business minister George Hollingbery offer to pass a compromise amendment to the bill in the Lords for a “customs arrangement” backstop.
But Mr Hammond refused, insisting the Government should accept his law change and then water it down later in the upper house.
Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan insisted the rebels had made a strand to send a message to No10 not to bow down to the hard Brexiteer MPs of the European Research Group, lead by Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Ms Morgan said: “We stood by what we believed, and live to fight another day.
“We have sent a very clear message that amendments that scupper the Chequers plan will lead to a significant fall out elsewhere in the party.”
The four Brexiteer Labour MPs who bailed out Mrs May were Labour Brexiteers Frank Field, Kate Hoey, John Mann and Graham Stringer - along with independent Kelvin Hopkins, who is suspended.
A sixth Labour MP, Ronnie Campbell also broke a three line whip to abstain.
He was joined by Heidi Allen, Kenneth Clarke, Jonathan Djanogly, Dominic Grieve, Mr Hammond, Phillip Lee, Ms Morgan, Bob Neill, Antoinette Sandbach, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston.
Two ex-Tory ministers - Ed Vaizey and George Freeman – also abstained on the crucial customs vote.
In a bid to limit the size of the rebellion, the Government agreed to pair some potential rebels with Labour MPs who are off ill or on maternity leave.
Tom Tugendhat claimed he was allowed not to be there because he was “reaching out the Bangladeshi community.”
And pro-EU waverer Vicky Ford was also given permission to miss the vote.
The ugly Tory blood letting continued yesterday.
Ex-PM Sir John Major told ITV News that some Tory Brexiteers are “fanatics” who are “prepared to go to almost any lengths to ensure we leave Europe”.
Their behaviour could collapse Mrs May’s administration, sparking a general election and “cause a Corbyn government”, he added.
Sir John also added his weight to growing calls for a second referendum, saying the Parliamentary logjam proved there is “undoubtedly a case” for it.
Meanwhile, Brexiteer Tory MP Nadine Dorries laid into leading pro-EU rebel Anna Soubry to say she “has lost the plot”.
Mr Bebb revealed he resigned on Monday night to vote with pro-EU rebels “to support the Prime Minister’s position”.
And he cast serious doubt on whether the PM is still in control of her party.
Mr Bebb told BBC Wales: “To find myself in a situation where I’m now seen as someone who’s rebelled against the government I find quite bizarre.
“The result of yesterday from a political point of view is that there are question marks now over who exactly does lead the Conservative party.”
Other Tory MPs were more conciliatory.
Backbencher Gillian Keegan backed the PM’s compromise plan, dubbing it “a Rolling Stones Brexit”, explaining: “You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you can get what you need”.
EU leaders watched the Westminster drama closely.
Irish PM Leo Varadkar said yesterday: “It’s not obvious that the Government of Britain has the majority for any form of Brexit quite frankly”.
The Taoiseach also said the Irish Government needed to “step up our preparations for a no-deal scenario”.
In a bid to calm rising fury with Tory party members over her Brexit softening, Mrs May invited 80 local association chairmen to No10 yesterday for a full briefing over it from party chairman Brandon Lewis.
One of the chairman there told The Sun: “There was a lot of anger in the room to start with but the consensus at the end was we have to stick with this deal or we are stuffed.
“There was agreement that she cannot give any further ground.”
THE Government was last night forced to scrap plans to give MPs an early summer holiday — just 24 hours after proposing the move.
The U-turn came after dozens of Tory rebels threatened to defeat the extraordinary bid to end the parliamentary term five days early.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom blamed chief whip Julian Smith for the move.
Party whips are said to want an early break to stop plotting against the PM.
Dr Fox also was forced to insist Mrs May’s plan is not “dead in the water” after Brexiteers enforced four changes on Monday, dubbed by others as wrecking amendments.
The Cabinet minister said it did not change policy as the amendments had been “cut and pasted” from the PM’s Chequers plan.
Meanwhile, Lib Dem boss Sir Vince Cable was lampooned yesterday for missing the chance to inflict a crucial defeat on the Government over trade tariffs.
But he refused to apologise and instead blamed Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael for telling him Monday’s Tory rebellion would not be close. Mr Carmichael said: “I messed up.”
AFTER days of Brexit mayhem the Government has at least seen off the treacherous bid by Labour, with Remainers on the Tory backbenches, to kill it stone dead.
The vote to stay in a customs union with the EU would have been a fatal blow to Brexit, the Government and the Tory Party. It would have kept us shackled to Brussels’ rules for all time, with no say over any of them.
All the ambition for our great country as a newly independent global trader would have been swept away. We would have all the possible short-term pain of leaving, with no long-term gain.
Theresa May’s Chequers plan is a feeble Brexit, but at least it’s freedom of a sort. That cannot be said of a customs union.
It was repugnant to watch Westminster’s Remainer elite line up to argue for tying us to the EU, and pretend the Leave verdict didn’t mean actually leaving.
Many seemed to treat it like a game, oblivious to the terrible danger they would have unleashed had they won.
For once, and however briefly, the Government has something to celebrate.
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