BACKSTOP FROM THE BRINK
PM wins titanic Brexit fight as MPs back Irish border plan in Commons vote — as Labour’s bid to delay Brexit is defeated
THERESA May won a titanic fight with Parliament to keep her Brexit deal alive.
MPs backed a plan that gives her a mandate to return to Brussels and demand the Irish backstop is replaced with an alternative.
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Pulling a massive U-turn, the PM agreed to rip up the unpopular Irish backstop – that could keep the UK in a customs union indefinitely.
Instead, she pledged to either win an escape route from it or replace it altogether with a new insurance plan devised by plotting junior ministers to keep the border open.
That won her the backing of hardline Tory Brexiteers as well as the DUP, who delivered her a Commons majority for the first time.
In a knife-edge vote at 8.30pm, MPs backed Tory grandee Sir Graham Brady’s unity plan to ditch the backstop by 317 v 301.
The PM immediately pledged to go back to Brussels and try to reopen talks.
Jubilant Mrs May said after the vote: “It is now clear that there is a route that can secure a substantial and sustainable majority in this House for leaving the EU with a deal”.
But within seconds, Brussels shot down Mrs May’s new plan.
In a statement coordinated with EU capitals in advance, EU Council boss Donald Tusk said: “The Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation”.
In a mammoth series of seven tense votes over two hours, the Government also saw off two dramatic attempts by the Commons to seize control of Brexit.
A landmark cross-party bid by former Labour Cabinet minister Yvette Cooper and ex-Tory minister Nick Boles to seize law making powers to delay Brexit if there is no deal by February 26 was defeated by 321 v 298, a majority of 23.
ATTEMPT TO DERAIL BREXIT FAILS
And a second bid by ex-Tory Attorney General Dominic Grieve for Commons to enforce a softer type of Brexit or a second referendum was thrown out by by 321 votes to 301, a majority 20.
But MPs did defeat the Government to pass a non-binding motion that Britain must not leave the EU without a deal, by 318 v 310.
Tory rebels aligned with Labour also pledged to try seize control again in two weeks time, and in greater numbers.
Mrs May only won after being forced to persuade Remain ministers not to resign by offering another No Deal showdown in two weeks time, on Valentine’s Day.
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Boris Johnson says that EU will be compelled to renegotiate Brexit deal
Also during another dramatic day for Brexit:
- Mrs May is under massive pressure today to accept a compromise plan by Tory Brexiteers and Remainers to end a three-month long Brexit deadlock.
- Brussels warned Spain will seek further concessions over Gibraltar if the PM tries to reopen the Brexit deal.
- David Gauke blasted Tory Eurosceptics and said they’d never be happy until France gives back CALAIS.
- Tony Blair urged Remainer MPs to “stand up” to the public and tell them they know more about Brexit than them.
Mrs May dubbed her unexpected victory as a “mandate seek to obtain legally binding changes to the Withdrawal Agreement”, and pledged to reopen talks with Brussels as soon as possible.
She added: “Contrast to a fortnight ago, this House has made it clear what it needs”.
But with just 58 days to go to Brexit, her bid faces a massive challenge as the EU immediately slammed the door in her face, dubbing her changes “impossible”. Brexiteers still celebrated the result.
This is clear, unambiguous good news and a huge victory for Britain
Boris Johnson
Ex-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the Brady amendment’s success was “clear unambiguous good news” and a “huge victory for Britain”.
Rowing behind the PM, the Tory big hitter said: “The PM now has a mandate from Parliament that the backstop, the thing that keeps us locked I the single market, the customs union, has to come out”.
Since sealing her Brexit divorce deal with the EU two months ago, the PM had insisted that the agreement was the only one she would argue for.
Instead, the PM asked the Commons to rip up that deal by changing the Irish backstop that she had previously argued was unchangeable.
The PM was forced into the shifts to win hardline Tory Brexiteers’ backing as well as the support of the DUP’s 10 MPs, who are propping up her minority government.
Agreeing to their two key demands while opening the debate in the Commons, Mrs May promised to ask the EU for “a significant and legally binding change to the Withdrawal Agreement”, confirming that would mean “reopening” it.
And she pledged to look at taking on a senior Tory Remainers and Leavers’ new joint bid to replace the unpopular Irish backstop with technological solutions to keep the border open instead.
PM VICTORY IN EU BATTLE
While not accepting in full, Mrs May told MPs it was “a serious proposal that we’re engaging with sincerely and positively”.
The Sun has learned that Mrs May has even promised hardliners she will shake up her negotiating team.
She agreed to their demands to bring in two seasoned trade negotiators, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN and WTO in Geneva Julian Braithwaite, and Crawford Falconer, the Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser at the Department for International Trade.
There will also be new cross party talks on how to deliver on no deal, including with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who finally accepted the PM’s invitation.
She added: “What I’m talking about is not a further exchange of letters but a significant and legally binding change to the Withdrawal Agreement.
“I believe that with a mandate from this House, I can secure such a change in advance of our departure from the EU.”
It's a mandate to seek a legally binding change to the Withdrawal Agreement
Theresa May
But she also admitted persuading the EU to reopen the deal “will not be easy”, as she dubbed re-opening the Withdrawal Agreement as “a move for which I know there is limited appetite among our European partners”.
No10 said that the PM is mulling over three different propositions to take to Brussels to change the backstop.
One is the Malthouse Compromise – dubbed plan C – to replace the current backstop with technological solutions to keep the border open instead.
PLAN C TO END WAR
Another is slapping a time limit on the backstop of either 12 months or several years, and a third is to win a unilateral exit for Britain from it.
No10 said there were no plans for the PM to travel to Europe yet and a trip to Brussels is unlikely to happen until Thursday at the earliest.
But aides said the PM is likely to speak to EU Council President Donald Tusk and Irish PM Leo Varadkar in the next 24 hours.
A Downing Street source said: “We always knew the next 24 hours would be a firefight and they’ll say no, no no. We’ll see what happens after that.
“Let’s look where we are compared to two hours ago. It’s a positive day but only the start of what will be an incredibly challenging process.”
Eight Tory rebels opposed the Brady amendment: Heidi Allen, Guto Bebb, Ken Clarke, Dominic Grieve, Phillip Lee, Anne Marie Morris, Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston.
But they were balanced out by seven Labour MPs backing the Government, including Kate Hoey and John Mann, along with three independent MPs.
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Mr Corbyn also faces five resignations from his frontbench after the shadow ministers and aides defied his order to back the Cooper/Boles amendment to delay Brexit if there is no deal to abstain instead.
Some 17 Tory MPs rebelled to vote in favour of the Cooper amendment to delay Brexit by up to nine months.
Mr Corbyn was hit by 14 Labour rebels voting the other way while nearly a dozen abstained.
Business reaction was gloomy, despite Tory jubilation.
BREXIT CLOCK IS TICKING
The Pound fell half a percent on rising fears of a No Deal – dropping to $1.3088.
British Chambers of Commerce chief Dr Adam Marshall said another day had been “lost while the clock is ticking”. He said: “Government and Parliament are still going round in circles when businesses and the public urgently need answers.”
In a bid to rouse the Tory rebellion, hard left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told MPs: “Tonight I hope this house does its job and leads where the Government has failed”.
But a series of senior Brexiteers took to their feet in the Commons to pile in behind her plan after Mrs May spoke.
Arch Eurosceptic Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg, who leads the European Research Group, said the PM’s new commitments had persuaded the “overwhelming majority” of Tory Brexit rebels to back her.
But other MPs vented the public’s frustration at how long the Brexit deadlock was going on for.
Tory backbencher Johnny Mercer said: “Please, let’s just get through this so we can get on with something else”.
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The PM also lost votes by her shift towards Brexit hardliners.
Ulster’s independent MP Lady Hermon, who voted for the Brexit deal two weeks ago, told Mrs May that the Malthouse Plan was “’nebulous”, and told her it wouldn’t work.
Scots Nationalist MPs accused Mrs May of “capitulating entirely to her Brexit right wing”.
Heavyweight warnings against a no deal Brexit continued to pour in.
The US’s Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned Congress that it would “cause economic disruptions that could substantially weaken the UK and Europe”.
Wrapping up the crunch Commons showdown, the Brexit Secretary said: ‘Time is of the essence “citizens and businesses want certainty, the EU wants clarity, the Prime Minister needs a mandate, and this House must therefore come together.”
He lashed attempts to delay Britain leaving the EU, and warned the plots “at best they delay Parliament in terms of getting clarity on an agreed plan, and at worst they disguise attempts to stop Brexit”.
His fiery riposte came at the end of a stormy session which has seen Labour’s Brexit chief Sir Keir Starmer say it is ‘inevitable’ the UK’s exit will be delayed.
And he defended Labour backing moves to extend Article 50 by warning a No Deal would be ‘catastrophic for jobs and living standards’.
CALAMITY CORBYN LOSES
The crucial debate got off to a chaotic start as Jeremy Corbyn was accused of sexism as he repeatedly refused to take questions during his address from a Labour backbencher who supports a People’s Vote.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove demanded to know why the Labour leader wasn’t taking an “intervention” from Labour MP Angela Smith, “who has been a member of the Labour party for 37 years”.
In farcical scenes the Tory chief whip Julian Smith mocked the Labour leader by holding up a piece of paper telling him Ms Smith was standing up behind him.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries challenged Mr Corbyn if there was a reason why he was only selecting questions from men – prompting him to snap that he’d taken one from Theresa May.
Ms Smith later accused her leader of breaching “the spirit” of Parliament.
And Labour MP Lisa Nandy said it was “embarrassing to be part of the pantomime” which kick-started the rowdy parliamentary debate.
Later, Tory Dame Caroline Spelman insisted she wasn’t a rebel, but a “peacemaker” as she implored MPs from all sides to vote for her bid to rule out a No Deal.
She said her amendment – tabled with Labour’s Jack Dromey – wasn’t about blocking Brexit, but to prevent “huge economic, and huge human cost”.
But in a dig at No.10 she added: “The threat of No Deal has been used as a stick to get more concessions but in my view that card has played out.”
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Jeremy Corbyn says he will meet PM Theresa May to discuss party's approach to the withdrawal agreement
Labour’s Hilary Benn tore into hardline Tory Brexiteers as he urged colleagues to back Yvette Cooper and Nick Boles plan to delay Brexit.
He demanded to know why Tory hardliners know more about the consequences of a No Deal than “the businesses that import things make things and export things”.
And he stormed: “The moment will come where we have to decide what we want and not just how we get to the point of decision.
“What we need is open minds not minds that are closed to the risks facing our country.”
Ms Cooper blasted No10 for not compromising and accused ministers of “chasing unicorns”. She warned a No Deal would mean economic disaster for the country.
THE BRADY CRUNCH
But a long list of Tory MPs stood up in the Chamber to pledge their support for the Brady amendment and sending the PM back to Brussels to renegotiate the hated Irish backstop.
Ex Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith said: “I do believe it is necessary for us now to send the Prime Minister back with a fair wind and a sense that this House has agreed that they want her to go and renegotiate and to take that change and that desire to deliver Brexit on time.”
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, warned politicians who are trying to delay Brexit are gambling with Britain’s departure.
He said there has been a “palpable” change in the attitude of the EU which is finally showing a willingness to compromise.
He added: “There is an agreement which can win majority support in this House of Commons.
“And by voting for amendment N we can send the Prime Minister back to Brussels to negotiate, and we can do so having strengthened her hand – able to see she has a real mandate from this House.”
Please, let's just get through this so we can get on with something else
Johnny Mercer
In a crucial intervention, Nigel Dodds, deputy leader of the DUP – who are propping the Tories up in power – backed Mrs May.
He said that “with that strong support behind her we can achieve something that people said was not possible, and get this deal sorted out for the good of our country”.
Ex Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said he would support Mrs May – but demanded changes to the backstop so it has an end date or a unilateral exit mechanism.
He said: “I want to strengthen the hand of this Prime Minister and this Government in returning to Brussels.”
And he warned the Cooper-Boles amendment looks like a ‘ruse’ to thwart Brexit and will weaken the PM’s negotiating hand with Brussels.
MOST READ IN BREXIT
But in a fiery clash, Mr Boles furiously hit back at the claim, saying: “It is entirely scurrilous to suggest there is somehow a hidden plot to revoke Brexit.”
Later, he lashed those who said there is nothing to fear from a No Deal, warning it would be a “disaster”.
He added: “It will sour the British people against the operation of their government for a generation.”
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THE SUN SAYS
WHAT an amazing night for Theresa May.
After a crushing defeat a fortnight ago, she has won a vote sending her back to Brussels with a firm mandate to demand more from the Brexit deal.
The EU can stonewall all it likes. But every binding Remainer motion to impede or delay Brexit was defeated.
And there is no point Brussels bleating about the Withdrawal Agreement being set in stone. We know it isn’t. Some EU figures have admitted it isn’t.
They could tweak the text, time-limit the backstop or find another solution.
They choose not to. And they will stick to that as long as they believe Parliament’s Remainers will ultimately strip the Government of its only negotiating leverage, the threat to just walk away.
Remainers, some in Cabinet, may well yet do that. Nonetheless last night should sow doubt in Brussels’ minds.
The victorious Brady amendment demands a vital, legally binding change to the Irish backstop before the PM’s deal can pass, just as The Sun called for.
Even a dejected Corbyn has conceded he now needs to talk to Mrs May.
The PM needs to know precisely what she’s demanding from Brussels — and we’re far from confident the EU will see reason. It is still more likely Brexit will be delayed, softened to a point that could tear the Tories apart or halted.
But, after last night’s staggering turnaround, who knows?
Pro-EU plotters lose bid to slowly kill off Brexit as MPs throw out bid to delay our leave date
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