Brexit amendments EXPLAINED: here's every 'plan B' proposal MPs are voting on tonight
6 min read
PoliticsHome's at-a-glance guide to every Brexit 'plan B' amendment selected by Speaker John Bercow for tonight's Commons vote.
Corbyn amendment (A) - Avoid a no-deal Brexit through Labour Brexit plan or a second referendum
This amendment from Labour’s frontbench orders the Government to “secure sufficient time” for parliament to vote on different ways of avoiding a no-deal Brexit.
These include sending ministers back to Brussels to negotiate a Brexit plan in line with Labour’s demands for a permanent customs union with the EU and “a strong relationship with the single market”. The party is also pressing for what it calls “dynamic alignment” with the bloc on environmental protections and workers’ rights.
Significantly for Labour, the other option included is a second referendum on any Brexit deal - or in the words of the amendment: "to hold a public vote on a deal or a proposition that has commanded the support of the majority of the House of Commons".
Mr Corbyn has said: "Our amendment will allow MPs to vote on options to end this Brexit deadlock and prevent the chaos of a No Deal."
Cooper amendment (B) - Labour-backed bid paving way for MPs to demand Article 50 extension
Labour MP Yvette Cooper’s amendment - which now has the official backing of Labour and cross-party support from top Tories including Nick Boles, Nicky Morgan and Sir Oliver Letwin - is a complex but potentially significant one.
Essentially, it would push all Government business in the Commons aside on February 5 in favour of a bill (known as the European Union Withdrawal Bill no 3) seeking to delay Article 50.
If passed, that bill would give ministers a deadline of 26 February to get a Brexit deal through the Commons. If they fail, the bill would then give MPs get a vote on extending Article 50 and, again, avoiding a no-deal outcome.
Ms Cooper, who chairs the cross-party Home Affairs Committee, said: "If the Government needs more time to sort this out and come up with a better plan they should be honest enough to admit it and take the steps needed in the national interest to make sure we don’t end up with a chaotic and damaging No Deal."
Grieve amendment (G) - Give MPs six days in charge of the Commons agenda so they can tell ministers how to proceed
This is former attorney general Dominic Grieve’s plan to let MPs wrest control of parliamentary business from the Government on a string of days in February and March.
Mr Grieve, who has accused ministers of “refusing to give Parliament the opportunity to express its opinion”, has identified six Tuesdays between now and Brexit day on 29 March in which he’s pushing for Commons business to be controlled by the House itself and not by ministers.
That may not sound particularly incendiary - but it’s the next stage that could have major implications for how Brexit pans out. Essentially, MPs will get the chance to pass resolutions on their preferred Brexit plan which ministers would only ignore at their peril - and with the final day set for March 26, just 72 hours before Britain leaves the EU, it could set the stage for a major showdown.
As the senior Conservative told Sky: “There will be a motion in neutral terms to start the day, which is about looking at Brexit and what’s going on, and then members of Parliament can table amendments for consideration which can be turned into resolutions of the House… A resolution of the House is a pretty solemn thing. If the House says something ought to be done which the Government isn’t doing, the Government can decide to ignore it but historically it would be very unusual in our constitution for that to happen.”
The Grieve amendment has already won the backing of Labour MPs including Chuka Umunna, Chris Bryant, Chris Leslie and Alison McGovern, as well as Conservatives like Anna Soubry, Justine Greening and Sarah Wollaston. Liberal Democrat Tom Brake, the SNP’s Philippa Whitford and the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas are also on board.
Spelman amendment (I) - cross-party bid to object to no-deal Brexit
This short amendment from Conservative former environment secretary Caroline Spelman is a straightforward bid to express MPs' objections to a no-deal Brexit. It says the House "rejects the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a Withdrawal Agreement and a Framework for the Future Relationship".
The amendment has attracted a stack of cross-party support, including from Labour frontbenchers Louise Haigh and Bill Esterson and Conservative remainers like Philip Lee and Dominic Grieve.
Reeves amendment (J) - extending Article 50 to take no-deal off the table
This amendment from Business Select Committee chair Rachel Reeves, a Labour MP, calls on Theresa May to push for an extension to Article 50 (thereby postponing Brexit) if no deal has been passed by 26 February.
The tweak has also been signed by senior Conservative Dominic Grieve and the SNP’s Drew Hendry. It seeks to swerve the no-deal Brexit being pushed for by some eurosceptics - but Mrs May has argued that such a move would mean "simply deferring the point of decision" and could weaken her hand in talks with the EU.
Murrison/Brady amendment (N) - Number 10-backed Tory push to replace backstop with 'alternative' arrangements
One to watch. Theresa May has already urged Tory MPs to get behind this amendment - tabled by Conservative backbencher and Northern Ireland Committee chairman Andrew Murrison and Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers - which calls for the hated backstop part her Brexit deal "to be replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border".
It also "supports leaving the European Union with a deal and would therefore support the Withdrawal Agreement subject to this change".
However, leading Brexiteers have already heaped scorn on an amendment Downing Street had hoped to use to signal that MPs could get behind Mrs May's deal if the EU agrees to tweak the backstop.
European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "There is no mood in the ERG to support it. It's a triumph of hope over experience. If the Government comes forward with an amendment saying it wants to substantially change the backstop that would be a different kettle of fish."
Blackford amendment (O) - SNP and Plaid Cymru bid to urge the Government to request Article 50 extension and rule out no-deal
This amendment from the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford and Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts points out that the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly have "voted overwhelmingly to reject the Prime Minister's deal" and demands that ministers seek a Brexit delay by extending Article 50. It warns that the 62% Remain vote in Scotland means "the people of Scotland should not be taken out of the EU against their will".
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