Tag: Member of parliament

The effort is being led by Yvette Cooper, a senior Labour MP, and Sir Oliver Letwin, a Tory former minister, who want to get their one-line bill through the House of Commons in just one day on Wednesday. Where next for Brexit? 1 April MPs rejected all indicative votes 3 April More indicative votes Another meaningful vote Cooper (business motion) Clear result Passes Passes Rejected Commons debate Possible runoff with May’s deal Passes Lords debate MPs’ choice wins May’s deal wins Passes Government goes back to Brussels May makes plan for article 50 extension Passes 10 April Possible extension Leave after short extension Brussels approves at EU summit 12 April No-deal exit Revoke article 50 Extend article 50 23 May UK takes part in EU elections Second referendum Renegotiate with EU General election 1 April MPs rejected all indicative votes 3 April More indicative votes Another meaningfulvote Cooper (Business motion) Passes Clear result Passes Rejected Commons debate Passes Possible runoff with May’s deal Lords debate MPs’ choice wins Passes May’s deal wins May makes plan for article 50 extension Government goes back to Brussels Passes 10 April Leave after short extension Brussels approves at EU summit Possible extension 12 April No-deal exit Revoke article 50 Extend article 50 23 May UK takes part in EU elections Second referendum Renegotiate with EU General election Guardian graphic An amendment passed by MPs last week gives them the power to take control of the order paper on certain dates, which they are hoping will give parliament time to debate and pass the bill before May attends an EU summit in Brussels next Wednesday. This is the natural point at which the prime minister would have to request an extension to article 50 in order to stop the UK crashing out without a deal on April 12. Cooper said the government could decide how long an extension to propose. 3 April 2019 Parliament debates again Parliament may decide to have another set of indicative votes - possibly on the paper will be a compromise option that combines a customs union with a confirmatory public vote. 4 April 2019 Another meaningful vote? EU leaders would decide how long at a summit on this date. However, if Brexit has been further delayed, the UK would hold European elections on the Thursday. Cooper and Letwin brought forward their legislation against no deal after MPs failed to alight on a consensus for an alternative to May’s Brexit deal in indicative votes on Monday. A source close to the Independent Group said there was a real risk that a win for a customs union in the House of Commons could have scuppered the chances of a new poll and that referendum supporters had already compromised by supporting the indicative votes process, which put their preferred option at risk.

Completely self-absorbed MPs have proven time and time again that they are not qualified to pull off something as complicated as Brexit. FromEveryAngle ‘Time to pass the ball to some other sucker’ How does Theresa May not just step down and walk away from this mess? Sort of feels like she’s tried enough and it’s time to pass the ball to some other sucker. Online and on the streets the voice of those who actually want to leave the EU is barely audible above that of those who want to remain. thatotherbloke ‘Politicians don’t have the will or courage to deal with this’ So after all this time spent negotiating and working out a Brexit agreement, the UK political establishment realises that it doesn’t like it and is unable to articulate alternatives it does like. There’s total paralysis in political decision making. The country, and parliament are split down the middle, the vote was too close and should never have been passed on such a small margin. May’s negotiated WA will be voted down again, there is no alternative, I think we know where this is heading and it isn’t revoking article 50. It is going to be a final end to this farce, or it will be the end for the EU as UK politicians will be arguing about this for another two years. JoeMcJoe ‘How long will it take for Britain to heal the division?’ It’s unbelievable how British MPs, especially the Conservatives, are unable to find a compromise and a way forward.

Aa Aa Running out of bad options? British MPs are trying to break the Brexit deadlock in a series of dramatic votes on Monday. The string of indicative votes, as they're known, comes after British lawmakers took control of the Brexit proceedings last week. MPs will have another chance to cast their ballots on the eight indicative votes — some of which are being voted on for a second time in the House of Commons — after being struck down last Wednesday. Political outsiders Presidential elections in Slovakia and Ukraine have thrust political newcomers into the spotlight. Both countries saw politicians with little prior political experience win important presidential votes. Zuzana Caputova won the runoff vote in Slovakia on Saturday, making her the country's first female president. In Ukraine, preliminary results indicated comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy defeated the incumbent, President Petro Poroshenko, in first-round votes on Sunday. The duo will face off in a runoff vote on April 21. Policing Facebook Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is calling for more government intervention when it comes to social media content.

The prime minister had suggested she would “engage constructively” with the indicative votes process, set up by a cross-party group of MPs led by the former Conservative minister Sir Oliver Letwin. But Downing Street sources confirmed that the government would whip Conservative MPs to oppose the business motion kicking off Monday’s votes. The deeply divided cabinet, which May’s own chief whip, Julian Smith, described in a BBC interview on Monday as the “worst example of ill-discipline in cabinet in British political history”, will be instructed not to vote. “I’ll leave it to historians to make their judgments on history,” he said. The prime minister’s spokesman said “soft Brexit” was “not terminology the prime minister has ever used”, but underlined her continued objections to Britain remaining part of a customs union. Would the UK be better off in or out of a customs union? Many Brexiters on the Conservative benches, including within the cabinet, are vehemently opposed to accepting a customs union. I’ve said that before. But we are approaching the point where the stakes are now so very high, and so transcend party politics and what this country is about, and the fundamental British value that political power rests on consent, that I think these things are coming on to the table.” Downing Street suggested it would be for the cabinet at its weekly meeting to decide how to proceed, if, as expected, MPs supported a softer deal on Monday. But government sources suggested May could still aim to bring her deal to parliament for a fourth time on Wednesday – when Letwin and his colleagues plan to set aside another day of parliamentary business, potentially to pass legislation implementing the outcome of Monday’s votes.

The remain-supporting Conservative MP, Dominic Grieve, is facing deselection by his party after losing a confidence vote held by his local association by 182 to 131 votes. And, while he remains its MP for the time being, a meeting will soon be convened to discuss his future. Grieve has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that parliament has a significant influence over how Brexit is managed, with the prime minister struggling to force her deal through the Commons. He is also a prominent remainer, has called for a second referendum and addressed a pro-EU rally attended by an estimated one million people in Westminster last weekend. Following the announcement of his defeat on Friday evening, Grieve was defended by fellow parliamentarians from his own party, and others. Antoinette Sandbach (@Sandbach) Dominic Grieve is principled intelligent and an outstanding politician and lawyer. He has been true to his values and beliefs. I’ve no intention of leaving it.” He has not commented following the announcement of his defeat at the Beaconsfield association. “I took the decision to ‘fight City Hall from within’ and resigned as Ukip chairman to join the Tory party a year ago,” Conway reportedly told local members. In a statement released on Friday evening, Beaconsfield Conservative association’s chair, Jackson Ng, said: “I am pleased to see over 350 members attend.

TIG is dead. Long live CUK! The Independent Group has registered as a political party, “Change UK – The Independent Group”, in anticipation of the European Parliament elections next month. Heidi Allen, the former Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, has been named as its interim leader until a full election at the party’s inaugural conference in September. Both the choice of name and leader – Allen was the unanimous choice of the party’s 11 MPs – reflect what TIG sees as its political raison d’etre: to act not as an adjunct to any of the existing parties but as a disruptive anti-system entity. Or, as Anna Soubry put it in the Commons this morning, “a new way of doing politics”. Senior sources within TIG argue that Allen, rather than the group’s spokesperson Chuka Umunna or its convenor Gavin Shuker, best embodies that mission. First elected in 2015 after a career in business, Allen’s, TIG MPs say, is a “non-political background”. To a large extent it is an attempt to provide an early and conclusive answer to the question that bedevilled the SDP in its early years: is the new party seeking to supplant the existing liberal-left players in the current system, or remake that system entirely? TIG believes it can only make electoral hay in the latter pose.

The Independent Group (TIG) of MPs has applied to become a political party to take part in European elections in May if they go ahead. The government has warned that unless the EU withdrawal agreement is approved later, the UK risks having to take part in May's European Parliament polls. The Independent Group, currently made up of eight former Labour and three ex-Tory MPs, has said it had applied to register as a political party in time for it to take part in those polls under the name "Change UK - The Independent Group". AdChoices If the elections watchdog approves its application and the polls go ahead, it said it would field a substantial number of candidates from backgrounds outside of politics to try and "shake up the two-party system". Ms Allen, a former Conservative MP, told the BBC that the European elections would be a "weathervane moment for the country" and a "proxy for another referendum". "It is real opportunity," she said. "The country is crying out for someone to lead and say we can just stay." She claimed there was enormous support for a new political movement but she did not underestimate the challenges involved. "This is David and Goliath stuff. She said there had no squabbling over her appointment as interim leader and it felt a "nice fit" for her to take the role alongside Chuka Umunna, who is acting as the group's principal spokesman.

The Independent Group (TIG) of MPs has applied to become a political party to take part in European elections in May if they go ahead. The government has warned that unless the EU withdrawal agreement is approved later, the UK risks having to take part in May's European Parliament polls. The Independent Group, currently made up of eight former Labour and three ex-Tory MPs, has said it had applied to register as a political party in time for it to take part in those polls under the name "Change UK - The Independent Group". AdChoices If the elections watchdog approves its application and the polls go ahead, it said it would field a substantial number of candidates from backgrounds outside of politics to try and "shake up the two-party system". Ms Allen, a former Conservative MP, told the BBC that the European elections would be a "weathervane moment for the country" and a "proxy for another referendum". "It is real opportunity," she said. "The country is crying out for someone to lead and say we can just stay." She claimed there was enormous support for a new political movement but she did not underestimate the challenges involved. "This is David and Goliath stuff. She said there had no squabbling over her appointment as interim leader and it felt a "nice fit" for her to take the role alongside Chuka Umunna, who is acting as the group's principal spokesman.

Tusk says EU will only give the UK a short article 50 extension if MPs pass the Brexit deal. In the Commons Barclay says Labour has not said what length extension it wants. Streeting says the same cannot be said for Barclay, who urged MPs to back the government motion last week proposing an article 50 extension only to vote against it himself. (@Peston) Senior minister tells me PM is making statement to nation tonight. Hmmm In Brussels some EU officials are now saying that EU leaders will not even take a decision about extending article 50 tomorrow - because Theresa May sent her letter too late. (@DanielBoffey) Senior EU diplomats expect Donald Tusk when he speaks in 20 minutes to say that the late delivery of Theresa May's letter makes it impossible to make a decision tomorrow at the summit. (@nick_gutteridge) Senior EU diplomat: May's letter has arrived 'too late' for EU leaders to make a decision on an Article 50 extension at tomorrow's summit. “No decision will be taken by France before the European council,” a source in Macron’s office said. The French foreign minister has said categorically that Paris could say no to May’s request for an extension if the prime minister does not set out a clear plan for the withdrawal agreement to be ratified by parliament. Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, will make a statement about Brexit later, at 4pm UK time.