Philip Hammond: MPs will probably not see full Brexit deal before they vote on it
2 min read
Philip Hammond has admitted MPs will be in the dark about parts of the final Brexit deal when they are asked to vote for it.
The Chancellor said the “high level” shape of the agreement should be visible by the time parliament gets its say but the “full details” are unlikely to be in place.
His admission is likely to anger MPs who demanded and won the promise of a ‘meaningful vote’ on the deal when it finally reaches the Commons.
The UK is set to leave the EU in March 2019 whether MPs back the proposed future relationship or not.
But asked at the World Economic Forum in Davos today whether parliament would be voting on a fully-formed agreement, Mr Hammond said it was unlikely.
“Probably not the full details but we would expect the high level shape of the future relationship to be emerging by that time,” he told Bloomberg.
Tory rebels secured a climbdown from the Government in November when they threatened to vote with Labour and the Liberal Democrats to force a ‘meaningful’ assessment of the Brexit deal.
Ringleader on the Tory backbenches Dominic Grieve has said if there is not enough time to scrutinise the agreement, the negotiating period under Article 50 should be extended “so all parties are able to deal with it”.
Green MP Caroline Lucas, who is also a member of pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain, told PoliticsHome: "The Chancellor has let the cat out of the bag with these comments. He wants MPs to vote with their eyes closed on the final deal - and to ignore the serious damage Brexit will do.
"The truth is that the Government are desperate to avoid democratic oversight over their brexit plans, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming towards having this vote in the first place. MPs need to be able to vote with the full facts in front of them, anything else would be utterly unacceptable."
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