Tag: Parliamentary Private Secretary

Theresa May has cleared what was seen in advance as a perilous parliamentary hurdle, as over the course of a two-day debate MPs reversed or partially reversed 14 of the 15 defeats the government suffered on the EU withdrawal bill in the House of Lords. (It decided to accept the 15th.) Labour claims that it might achieve “a whole catalogue of victories against the government” proved unfounded. There were 20 divisions in total, and the government won them all fairly comfortably. May has not yet fully defused this row, and a further rebellion on this next week seems quite possible. Jeremy Corbyn faced his biggest backbench revolt since he became leader, as Labour’s divisions on Europe broke out once more tonight. A further 15 voted against. Many MPs were frustrated at the front bench attempt to fudge away party differences. The shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said earlier this week that the party was too divided to pursue the so-called Norway option of EEA membership. But rebelling on the bill for the first time, Hilary Benn, the former shadow foreign secretary, who chairs the Commons cross-party Brexit committee, said there comes a point where “we have to stand up and be counted”.