Tag: Juan José Estrada

MPs are set to decide the shape of Brexit next week, in what is coming to be seen as one of the most important votes so far on the EU withdrawal bill. Dr Sarah Wollaston, one of the most prominent Tory rebels, said: “There are some who really do just want a walk-away no-deal Brexit but others, like myself, who feel just as passionately that a hard Brexit would be immensely damaging and want parliament to be able to prevent that.” Rebels believe there is still no majority in parliament for a hard Brexit and that they can muster enough support across the Commons to carry an amendment on a meaningful vote. But Brexiters also believe that with a handful of Labour rebels and a few Tory abstentions, they can win, and they are urging Theresa May not to make any more concessions to MPs. On Monday, peers will vote again on the so-called Hailsham amendment. It says that if by February 2019 – only weeks ahead of the exit date of 29 March – there is no deal, MPs will be empowered to direct the government. One rebel, Antoinette Sandbach, who has been threatened and abused on social media for her pro-European position, said that in the hour before the amendment was tabled, David Davis’s Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) “appeared to get involved and the process was hijacked and one was tabled that wasn’t agreed to”. She said: “There was no discussion, no notification. It’s extraordinary. I’d like to see grown-up government and it seems to me that DExEU is trying to reduce parliament to a school debating chamber. The outcome of next week’s votes is likely to have a bearing on the approach the government takes as it prepares for the big quarterly council meeting in October.