Tag: Deadlock

Eight votes on alternative Brexit options, put before the Commons after MPs seized control of the parliamentary process from the government, resulted in no majority for any of them, although the vote was close on one softer Brexit option. Oliver Letwin, the Tory former minister whose amendment created the process, said this was to be expected, and that if May’s deal is defeated for a third time if put to MPs on Friday, this could forge unity if the only other option was no deal on 12 April. Letwin said he had expected no majorities on Wednesday. He said: “MPs will be voting on the basis of seeing what happened last time. “If it doesn’t then I think people will finally see that that isn’t going to happen by 12 April and I think quite a lot of Tories who didn’t vote for any of the options because they were, perfectly honourably, taking the view that until they had a last chance to vote for the prime minister’s deal they didn’t want to commit themselves to anything else, may come round and say: OK, we’ll choose among these options.” The indicative votes capped a dramatic day in Westminster during which May promised her MPs she would step down from No 10 for the next stage of the Brexit process if her deal is passed. But soon afterwards the Democratic Unionist party announced it still could not back the plan, making success in the Commons much less likely. “It’s very difficult to translate how people vote the first time, when they don’t know how other people are voting, to how they will vote when they can see how other people are voting, under new circumstances. Although there was no majority for one particular option, I think it showed that there were areas of commonality.” She told Today: “What’s imperative now over the next few days is that parties across the house work with each other to find reasonable compromises to try and navigate a way out of this.” At the same time, Conservative Brexiters said they had not given up on their plan. A proposal to leave the EU without a deal on 12 April, put forward by the Tory MP John Baron, lost by 160 votes to 400. He told Today: “The legal position is that if we cannot agree a course of action other than article 50 then the natural default position is that we leave on no-deal, WTO terms.

Downing Street has described the Brexit talks in Brussels as “deadlocked” after negotiations over the weekend failed to find a breakthrough on the Irish backstop. Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, spoke on the telephone on Sunday evening to “take stock”, but plans for the prime minister to visit the Belgian capital to sign off on any compromise are on hold. “No further meetings at a political level are scheduled but both sides will remain in close contact this week”, a commission spokesman added on Monday. “The commission has made proposals on further assurances that the backstop, if used, will apply temporarily… It is now for the House of commons to make an important set of decisions this week”. They have advised May instead to replace the vote with a motion setting out the sort of Brexit deal that would be acceptable to Tory MPs, in the hope that this would trigger concessions from the EU. Could end with a no-deal Brexit, a second referendum, new ideas or ... MPs vote on May’s deal for a third time No Yes Brexit with May’s deal on 29 March No-deal Brexit on 29 March, or ... EU makes surprise last-minute concessions on the backstop. MPs pass May’s deal Brexit with May’s deal on or shortly after 29 March 12 March MPs vote again on May’s deal Brexit with May’s deal on 29 March Yes No 13 March MPs vote on whether to leave without a deal No-deal Brexit on 29 March Yes No 14 March MPs vote on whether to extend article 50 UK asks for a short extension Yes No 21 March summit EU leaders vote on allowing a short extension Brexit postponed No Yes No to short, but yes to longer extension Brexit postponed MPs vote on offer of a longer extension No Yes Deadlock. Could end with a no-deal Brexit, a second referendum, new ideas or ... Brexit with May’s deal on 29 March MPs vote on May’s deal for a third time Yes No No-deal Brexit on 29 March, or ... Brexit with May’s deal on or shortly after 29 March EU makes surprise last-minute concessions on the backstop. The uncompromising mood among Brexit-minded Conservatives was illustrated on Monday when the Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh suggested May should abandon the meaningful vote and instead have the Commons back a motion outlining support for a deal based on technology-based “alternative arrangements” for the Irish border. Writing in the Guardian, Sam Gyimah, a former Conservative minister who resigned as a minister to back a people’s vote, warned MPs against voting for the deal under government pressure, suggesting bad policy decisions such as the Iraq war were made under similar circumstances.

In a statement in Downing Street on Wednesday night, the prime minister exhorted politicians from all parties to “put aside self-interest”, and promised to consult with MPs with “the widest possible range of views” in the coming days. May keen to start alternative Brexit talks after no-confidence motion fails – Politics live Read more A day after overwhelmingly rejecting her Brexit deal, rebel Conservatives and Democratic Unionist party (DUP) MPs swung behind the prime minister to defeat Labour’s motion of no confidence by 325 votes to 306 – a majority of 19. With just five days to go before May must make a statement to parliament setting out her Brexit plan B, Downing Street continued to indicate that she was not ready to budge on her red lines, including membership of a customs union. “We will support any real opportunity to take down the Tories with relish. We will not be party to Corbyn using spurious means to avoid Labour policy, by pursuing unwinnable no-confidence votes,” the source said. May’s spokesman said a no-deal Brexit could not be ruled out. May’s spokesman suggested a customs union was not up for discussion: “We want to be able to do our own trade deals, and that is incompatible with either the or a customs union.” After meeting party leaders, May is expected to extend the invitation to opposition backbenchers over the coming days, as well Tory Eurosceptics. The prime minister has lost control and the government have lost the ability to govern.” Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, wound up the debate for his party by saying May would for ever be known as “the nothing-has-changed prime minister”. A group of more than 70 Labour MPs announced on Wednesday morning that they were backing the call for a “people’s vote”. Failing that, all options are on the table, including that of campaigning for a second referendum.

Our politics and our parliament is in deadlock over Brexit. But if we choose to learn from other countries in how we resolve our differences, this could be a moment when Britain comes together rather than falling apart in constitutional chaos. Damon Albarn joins call for citizens' assembly to break Brexit deadlock Read more Looking on, we cannot see how a majority can be found for any proposition in parliament: some want to remain, some want no deal, some want Norway, some want to vote again. Anger and resentment are growing, splitting families, communities and our country. Without a new intervention, the toxic culture which has infected public life will irrevocably damage democracy and the future for us all. Each of us individually has different views on what should happen next when it comes to Brexit, but we all agree that finding a way forward is vital to restoring faith in our democracy. Yet we also recognise that there are important ways to help heal this rift and involve the public in deeper and more meaningful ways. Citizens’ assemblies operate around the world to create a neutral forum for evidence-based, participative decision-making. In recent years, they have been used in Ireland, British Columbia and Iceland, and in national and local government in the UK, as democratic “circuit-breakers” on contentious and complex issues. Not superseding MPs by judging the outcome, but offering recommendations on how Brexit should be decided, to help break this deadlock and start to heal the nation’s bitter divisions.

Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May both sought to put a brave face on local council results that suggested neither can break the electoral deadlock that delivered a hung parliament last June. Local council elections 2018 – results in full Read more Corbyn told Labour supporters the results showed his party was “ready for a general election whenever it comes”, and insisted, “there’s much more to come and it’s going to get even better”. The BBC’s projected national share of the vote, which uses the results in local elections to estimate the parties’ standing across the country, put Labour and the Conservatives neck-and-neck, on 35% apiece. Modest success for Lib Dems in remain areas The party celebrated as it took control of Richmond by gaining 22 seats and had some other good results. Catastrophic night for 'Black Death' Ukip Ukip's vote collapsed and by Friday morning it held just two seats, 44 down on four years ago. Our time isn't finished because Brexit is being betrayed." We will continue to work hard for local people and we will build on this success for the future.” 'Labour should be trouncing the Tories': readers on the local elections Read more May later travelled to Dudley, another Labour target held by the Tories, who were boosted by the collapse of Ukip. “Unless Labour gets to grips with that, the next election is far from secure, with Labour piling up the votes in cities, and the Tories having a near-monopoly on the countryside.” She added: “Whoever gets this town’s argument will win the next general election and the one after that.” In London, Labour performed more strongly in boroughs where it already had a healthy lead over the Conservatives when the seats were last contested, in 2014. But the biggest blow for the party came in Barnet, its main target in the capital, where it needed to gain just one seat to take control. “It is clear that antisemitism was a very real issue in this campaign, not everywhere, but in areas where particularly there is a large Jewish community,” he said.