UK Prime Minister Theresa May has postponed the House of Commons Brexit vote on her withdrawal deal, originally due to be held today, after concerns over its unpopularity.
The withdrawal agreement, which has been signed off by representatives of all EU Member States, had been due to face a ballot in parliament this evening, but it proved to be so unpopular in the weeks leading up to the House of Commons Brexit vote that the government was predicted to lose by more than 100 votes.
MPs reacted with outrage at May’s declaration yesterday that the vote would be postponed until an unspecified date, with Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow acknowledging “much unhappiness” on both sides of the House. The prime minister’s official spokesman said today that the House of Commons Brexit vote will be held before January 21, the final date enshrined in the EU Withdrawal Act before which an official statement must be made. It has since been alleged that EU officials were told the vote would be postponed 24 hours before cabinet ministers were informed, meaning several ministers were sent out by Downing street yesterday morning to deny postponement even though May had already decided otherwise.
Leaders of the main opposition parties – Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, the Scottish National Party’s Ian Blackford, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, the Liberal Democrats’ Vince Cable and Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts – have co-signed a letter accusing May of being in contempt of parliament over her unilateral postponement of the House of Commons Brexit vote without consulting MPs. The letter said: “You [May] admitted in the House that you are running from a heavy defeat on your deal in the House of Commons. It cannot be right that the government can unilaterally alter the arrangements, once this House has agreed on a timetable, without the House being given the opportunity to express its will.”
Corbyn, as Leader of the Opposition, has faced considerable pressure from other opposition parties to table a vote of no confidence in the prime minister in the wake of the deferment of the House of Commons Brexit vote – if May were to lose a no confidence vote, she would have to dissolve parliament and call a general election. Labour released a statement yesterday saying a no confidence vote would only be tabled “when it was most likely to be successful”.
May left for Europe today in what Corbyn called a “strange, stage managed foray” to attempt further renegotiation on the deal, though the EU has made it clear they are not open to renegotiating terms at this time; German Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have reiterated to May at their meeting this afternoon that the deal could not be renegotiated. Jeremy Corbyn has been granted an emergency debate in Commons this afternoon on the government’s management of the House of Commons Brexit vote postponement.
