May hands Parliament power to delay Brexit


TODAY a motion is to be put to Parliament where MPs will vote on the sequence of events leading up to Brexit.

On the eve of the vote May announced in Parliament yesterday that she will be giving the House of Commons first a vote on ruling out no deal, and then on extending Article 50.

She outlined her further capitulation to the Remainers in the House of Commons saying: ‘First: We will hold a second meaningful vote by Tuesday 12th of March at the latest.

‘Second: If the government has not won a meaningful vote by Tuesday 12th March then it will table a motion to be voted on by Wednesday the 13th March at the latest, asking this House if it supports leaving the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement and a Future Relationship on the 29th March.

‘So the United Kingdom will only leave without a deal on the 29th March if there is explicit consent from the House for that outcome.

‘Third: if this House, having rejected the deal negotiated with the EU, then rejects leaving on 29th March without a Withdrawal Agreement and Future Framework, the government will, on 14th March, bring forward a motion on whether Parliament wants to seek a short, limited extension to Article 50.

‘And if the House votes for and agrees an extension, seek to agree that extension approved by the House with the EU and bring forward the necessary legislation to change the exit date to measure with that extension.’

She went on: ‘Parliament gave the choice to the people. In doing so we told them we would honour their decesion. That remains the resolve of this side of the House.

‘But last night we learned that it is no longer the commitment of the Leader of the Opposition. He has gone back on his promise to respect the referendum result and now wants to hold a divisive second referendum that will take our country right back to square one.

‘Anyone who voted Labour at the last election because they thought he would deliver Brexit will rightly be appalled.’

She said: ‘Today we publish our paper assessing our readiness for no deal.

‘I believe that if we have to, we will make a success of a no deal.

‘But this paper provides an honest assessment of the very serious challenges it would bring in the short term and reinforces why the best way for this House to honour the referendum result is to leave with a deal.’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded: ‘I can’t count how many times the Prime Minister has come to this House to explain a further delay.

‘They say that history repeats itself first in tragedy second time as farce, by the umpteeth time it can only be described as grotesquely reckless. This is not dithering, it is a deliberate strategy to run down the clock.

‘The Prime Minister has promised to achieve something she knows is not achievable, and is stringing people along.

‘So will she be straight with people? The Withdrawal Agreement is not being re-opened.

‘There is no attempt to get a unilateral exit on the Backstop or a time limit.’

He then revealed his complete capitulation to the right wing of the Labour Party announcing his commitment to a second referendum.

Corbyn insisted to jeers: ‘Labour have a credible plan that could bring the country together, provide certainty for people and safeguard jobs and industry.’

Outlining a plan where the UK would have exactly the same relationship with the EU as we have now, he said: ‘It is based around a new Customs Union with the EU to protect our manufacturing industry, a close alliance with the Single Market protecting all of our trading sectors and keeping pace with the best practice on workers’ rights, environmental protection and consumer safeguards.’

The House then erupted when Corbyn claimed: ‘Labour accepts the result of the referendum.’

Corbyn said of May’s deal: ‘And so, if it somehow does pass in some form at a later stage, we believe there must be a confirmatory public vote to see if people feel that is what they voted for.’