Cabinet minister could be suspended from Commons over Brexit legal advice contempt row
2 min read
A top Cabinet minister could be suspended from the Commons after John Bercow ruled the Government may be in contempt of Parliament for failing to publish its full Brexit legal advice.
The Speaker said there was an "arguable" case that ministers are guilty of not complying with a motion approved by MPs last month.
An emergency Commons debate and vote will take place later today.
If the Government is found to be in contempt and still refuses to publish the legal advice, a senior minister - most likely to be Attorney General Geoffrey Cox or de facto deputy Prime Minister David Lidington - could be suspended from the Commons.
The bitter row was sparked yesterday after Mr Cox published a 52-page "reasoned position statement" of the Brexit deal struck between Theresa May and the EU, rather than the full legal advice he has given the Cabinet.
A letter was then sent to Mr Bercow by Labour, the SNP, the Lib Dems, Greens, Plaid Cymru and the DUP - who Theresa May relies on to prop up her government - accusing ministers of being in contempt.
Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said: "The Government has failed to publish the attorney general’s full and final legal advice to the Cabinet, as ordered by Parliament.
"We have therefore been left with no option but to write to the Speaker of the House of Commons to ask him to launch proceedings of contempt."
Ruling on the matter last night, the Speaker said: "I have considered the matter carefully and I am satisfied that there is an arguable case that a contempt has been committed. I'm therefore giving precedence for a motion to be tabled tonight before the House rises and to be taken as first business tomorrow."
In farcical scenes, Tory MPs then filibustered a routine debate on Scotland's foreign policy to give the Government time to table and amendment to the contempt motion.
If that were passed, the issue would be referred to the Committee on Privileges, effectively kicking it into the long grass until after next week's crunch vote on the Brexit deal.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell tweeted: "Conservatives now scraping the bottom of the political barrel in Parliamentary tactics to survive. We are witnessing the unedifying spectacle of the undignified disintegration of a government that no longer deserves to be in office."
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