Theresa May’s crunch Commons vote on her Brexit date pencilled in for January 14
Mrs May admitted after winning the confidence vote yesterday that she was on course to lose the vote on her deal
THERESA May’s crunch Commons vote on her Brexit deal has been pencilled in for January 14, The Sun can reveal.
The PM dramatically abandoned the ‘Meaningful Vote’ scheduled for Tuesday - after MPs had already debated it for three days.
She took the unprecedented step after admitting she was on course to lose heavily.
Yesterday No10 confirmed the vote would not be held before Christmas but “as soon as possible” in January.
Cabinet sources told The Sun that they are planning to hold the Commons vote on the first day possible after MPs return from their Christmas break.
But they have conceded that they will be forced to start the process again by holding a full five days of debate running up to the vote - instead of resuming where they left off last week.
That process would start on Monday January 7 - and culminate with a vote a week later on January 14, Cabinet sources said.
The Government has committed to holding it before January 21.
But the possibility of an emergency EU summit in January could push back the vote further. An EU source said: “It would make sense to have a possible January summit before the meaningful vote in order to deliver the best possible result to the House of Commons.”
Some 164 MPs had taken part in the three days of debates on the Brexit deal before the PM pulled it on Monday morning.
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Yesterday Labour MPs demanded the vote before Christmas - saying delaying the inevitable was putting intolerable strain on businesses.
Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom had pleaded with the Prime Minister to only delay the original timetable by a week to ensure the vote was over and done with by the time MPs pack up for Christmas on Thursday.
Lib Dem boss Sir Vince Cable even called for Christmas to be cancelled so MPs can get on with Brexit. He said the party had no problem coming to the Commons on December 25th if need be – and “missing the turkey”.
Yesterday a No10 spokesman said: “The ‘meaningful vote’ will not be brought to Parliament before Christmas.”
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