Backbench MPs launch ‘last-ditch’ bid to stop no-deal Brexit in 10 days' time
3 min read
Backbench MPs from across the political divide have launched a “last-ditch” bid to stop Theresa May leading Britain out of the EU with no deal in 10 days' time.
Conservative Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour MP Yvette Cooper have devised a plan that would force Theresa May to delay Brexit beyond the current deadline of 12 April.
In a highly unusual move, they have tabled a bill they hope to rush through the Commons on Wednesday which would order the Prime Minister to “immediately come forward with a proposal” to extend the Article 50 process.
The move comes after a second round of votes in the House of Commons failed to produce a majority for any alternative to Mrs May's Brexit deal, which has itself been rejected by MPs three times.
If passed, the emergency law would allow the PM to choose the length of any Brexit delay, but would give MPs the power to change it as they debate and vote on any extension.
Separately, the MPs plan to stage a third round of so-called 'indicative votes' on Monday to give MPs another chance to back a new Brexit plan.
Unveiling the plan, Sir Oliver said: “This is a last-ditch attempt to prevent our country being exposed to the risks inherent in a no deal exit. We realise this is difficult. But it is definitely worth trying.”
Ms Cooper, who chairs the cross-party Commons Home Affairs Committee, said the UK was “now in a really dangerous situation” and warned of a “serious and growing risk of no deal in 10 days’ time”.
The Labour MP added: “The Prime Minister has a responsibility to prevent that happening. She needs to put forward a proposal, including saying how long an extension she thinks we need to sort things out.
“If the Government won’t act urgently, then Parliament has a responsibility to try to ensure that happens even though we are right up against the deadline.
“Parliament has tried to jam into two days a process of finding consensus that I wish the Prime Minister had started two years ago. But right now nothing has been agreed.
“So that means that whatever happens in the next few days, the UK needs an extension beyond 12 April if we are to avoid the damage and chaos of no deal.
“For the sake of jobs, public services and our national security we need to avert no deal.”
'REPREHENSIBLE'
Under the plan outlined by the pair, the bill would be rushed through all of its Commons stages in a single day - a move swiftly attacked as “unconstitutional” by Conservative Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash.
Raising a point of order in the chamber on Tuesday, the Tory MP warned: "In short this is a reprehensible procedure, in the context of this vitally important issue of our leaving of the European Union.
"It is unconstitutional, it is inconceivable that we should be presented with a bill that could be rammed through in one day."
But Speaker John Bercow hit back, saying that while it was an “unusual” move, the new bill was permitted under parliamentary rules.
“Although this is of course an unusual state of affairs, it is not unknown for a bill to be pushed through the House in one day,” he said.
Mr Bercow added: “It is unusual and it is a bit different from those other examples and it grates immensely with the honourable gentleman, but that doesn’t, of itself, render it disorderly.
"Upsetting the honourable gentleman is displeasing, but not disorderly.”
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