Parliament makes a sensible decision at last on Brexit

Yesterday the combined forces of the Opposition parties united to try to hijack the business of the House in the future to delay or prevent our exit and to ban a so called No deal exit. By 309 votes to 298 votes this proposal was defeated. They wanted time to legislate to stop Brexit or to prevent the government counting the clock down to our exit on 31 October without allowing the Parliament yet another say on the Brexit options.

It is traditional for governments to control the business of the House. If a majority builds up in the House against what they are doing then the opposition forces have the right to table and vote onĀ  a motion of No confidence. If the Opposition wins that motion itĀ  ends the government’s tenure. The Opposition is not afforded the rightĀ  to have Parliamentary time to have its own alternative programme of new legislation or its own alternative foreign policy . As it does not enjoy a majority there would beĀ  no point in allowing this. It enjoys plenty of time to question, criticise, debate and comment on the government’s approach which is its role. The Opposition is free to tableĀ  any amendments it likes to government legislation, and free to try to persuade government MPs to join them in amending or opposing it.

The last time the Opposition tried a hijack to secure legislation it was to ask the government to seek a delay to our exit. As it happened Mrs May wanted to seek aĀ  delay anyway, so when the vote was won by just oneĀ  vote it did not change anything as the government wanted to ask for a later exit date. As they found when trying to legislate then, all Parliament could try to do was to bind the hand of the UK government. They could not legislate to require a delay because that also required to consent of the EU.

It is good news that this time Parliament recoiled from allowing those MPs most hostile to our exit from the EU to take control of the Order paper. If they did so they would undermine the UK’s negotiating position further, humiliate our country again internationally, and thwart the clear wishes of the British people by refusing to implement the Brexit we voted for.

 

132 Comments

  1. Pominoz
    June 13, 2019

    Sir John,

    Delighted to see the failure of the disgusting attempt to take control of Parliamentary business by those MPs determined to block a WTO Brexit. However, there remains a clear intent by rogue MPs, with the connivance of the Speaker, to undermine the negotiating strengths of the incoming PM and to sabotage the democratic decision of the referendum.

    The assertion by Grieve that he would be prepared to support a vote of no confidence in the Tory Government to avoid, what he calls, a ā€˜no dealā€™ Brexit exposes the treachery within him and his determination to deny the restoration of sovereignty and independence to the UK. There is now ample written evidence available to all MPs that a WTO exit will not be catastrophic, so persistence with such wrecking tactics is clearly only designed to try to keep the UK within the EU.

    Grieve, Letwin and all other MPs taking measures designed to reverse the clear decision of the referendum should be left in no doubt of the severe consequences of their actions. Immediate withdrawal of the whip from rogue Tories, as suggested by Andrew Bridgen, and not allowing them to vote in the leadership election sounds eminently sensible.

    1. agricola
      June 13, 2019

      While the current PM is in No 10 and of a remain mindset the rogue MPs will continue to spread their poison. Additionally their role as dead men on the parapet may be numerically useful to the incoming PM. It is up to their constituency party to de-select them prior to the next GE. My own MP, a remainer, and member of May’s disasterous government, has kept the lowest profile ever. In fact I think he is still with the ration truck.

      1. Butties
        June 13, 2019

        Dear Agri , I have not picked on you purposely but I am taking this opportunity to comment on the general response of ‘de-selection’ which you mention.
        We should not have to rely on this as course of action as it has no power of immediate action.
        What constituents need is the right to recall MPs back to the ballot. How this can be decided (lets start by saying 90% of the majority vote (as a starting point for discussion)) has to be by LAW( ie and Act of Parliament) be sufficient to call a by-election.
        The Recall Act. By such a process the plebs (us) can prevent any swamp being created in the first place. Any chance any Party would support such a proposal?
        Doubt it.

        1. Hope
          June 14, 2019

          They could if the MP that was recalled was replaced by an MP of that party until the next general election.
          That way minority government would not be fettered by wayward MP behaviour.
          Also if MPs want to defect from the party they were elected on a by election should take place as the MP decided to be disloyal and th voters should decide who it wants to represent them.

      2. L Jones
        June 13, 2019

        ”…He alone breaks from the van and the freemen,
        ā€”He alone sinks to the rear and the slaves!” perhaps?

        Except that he’s not alone unfortunately.

    2. Timaction
      June 13, 2019

      Indeed. The Governments underhanded behaviour and devious support of staying in the EU has been obvious for a long time. A rogue Parliament that needs cleansing. The Tory Party needs root and branch reform as does the voting system and the Lords. We can all smell the corruption!

      1. Turboterrier
        June 13, 2019

        Timeaction

        Yes we can at it reeks. You are totally correct that the local branches must now step upto and cross the line and get rid of these free loaders who are & stroying this country. As for the House of Lords don’t go there it is way past its sell by date. Not fit for purpose in its present format.

    3. Hope
      June 13, 2019

      Tory associations need to demand they have the right to oust the ten MPs plus cabinet ministers intent on subverting the will of the people to leave the EU.

      Grieve appeared apoplectic with rage he lost the vote yesterday. Very strange.

      Gauke pleas not to have a vote of no confidence in him should fall on deaf ears, his DM article with Rudd and Clarke should have been the nail in the coffin for him and the other two. Why are they still in government?

      Mayhab now wants to destroy the UK economy and industrialisation of our nation before she goes by her Nutty zero emissions target. This must not be allowed to happen. No new policies before the new PM. The woman has gone mad. She has a legacy- the worse PM in history and the most dishonest.

      Peterborough by election needs investigating.

      Vatican absolutely spot on about brainwashing children on gender issues should stop.

      1. M Davis
        June 13, 2019

        Hear! Hear!

    4. Chris
      June 13, 2019

      Totally agree, Pominoz. I think this will give even more ammunition to those Conservatives who are pushing deselection of Grieve, after their vote of no confidence in him. Their huge concerns are justified, and for Grieve to be so arrogant in thinking he can speak and boast about his utter betrayal of not only his constituents but the electorate of this country is all the proof one needs about the calibre and “integrity” of our MPs. There is a rot at the core of the Party, and the H of C.

      1. Turboterrier
        June 13, 2019

        Chris

        Integrity? What integrity.
        You failed to mention the H o L. All tarred with the same brush.

    5. Mockbeggar
      June 13, 2019

      I saw Grieve on the television last night and he astonished me with the sheer
      arrogance of his claim that he alone could save the country from the terrible fate of ‘no deal’.

    6. James1
      June 13, 2019

      The fact that the vote to ban a so called ā€˜no dealā€™ exit was so narrowly defeated (309 to 298) shows beyond doubt that a major sweeping out of MPs is going to have to be undertaken at the next GE. Enough of the electorate know who the culprits are who placed a higher value on the EU than their own country.

    7. Jacqui
      June 13, 2019

      I am so glad the remaniac opposition were defeated yesterday. Dominic Grieve is so concerned about No Deal, stating he could not look his children and grand children in the eye if he didnā€™t stop it. Strangely he is not concerned about collapsing the Government and allowing the possibility of a Marxist Corbyn ( God forbid! ) . Presumably he is not worried how that would affect his children or the Country, unbelievable!!
      Jeremy Huntā€™s has the backing of Amber Rudd, David Gorke, Philip Hammond, all the biggest remainers in the Cabinet raises big red flags and alarm bells. Is he a true Brexiteer or a pretender like Mrs May!

      1. Andy
        June 13, 2019

        How do you tell a true Brexiteer?

        Is it from their Union Jack underpants and inability to engage with facts?

        1. L Jones
          June 13, 2019

          I don’t know, Andy. But it’s quite easy to spot a remainer:
          Never a comment without an insult.

      2. vera
        June 13, 2019

        Jacqui, Hunt did originally vote Remain, so not a Brexiteer at all. I don’t trust him and the fact he is supported by Remainers adds to my distrust. He’s too groomed, too bland, too IBM man. Boris is feared by the EU, the Labour Party and Remainers in his own party – good enough for me. Difficult to see now how he can be stopped but I’ve no doubt the Grieves will carry on with their dirty tricks. Funny how they all have mean spiteful faces.

  2. Mick
    June 13, 2019

    I know you won the day yesterday but can it keep coming back to the hoc until the remoaners get the result they want, and what did Corbyn mean when he was shouting youā€™ll not be cheering in September

    1. matthu
      June 13, 2019

      At last I understand the etymology of ad hoc!

    2. Hope
      June 13, 2019

      Brandon Lewis issued a dictum anyone supporting Brexit Party will be expelled. Yet Grieve, Letwin, Bebb, Clarke, Sandwich, Djanogley, Spelman, Greening, Gyimah (who wanted to be PM!) are allowed to help write a motion and vote to give marxist Labour control of business over the Tory Govt! Please explain to us mortals why the ten are not being expelled?

      1. Helen Smith
        June 13, 2019

        We may yet need their support if it came to a vote of confidence in the government in the event of leaving on WTO terms.

        Those that vote against will effectively deselect themselves. The likes of Bebb who switched from PC to the Tories to become an MP will then have to choose, the EU or their future as an MP.

    3. graham1946
      June 13, 2019

      We’ll see what The Speaker is made of if it does. He ruled that you cannot re-submit something which has already been voted on and lost. We shall see if the Speaker is honourable enough to enforce his own rule if they try it again.

  3. Bob Dixon
    June 13, 2019

    Yesterday a number of conservatives voted with the opposition on this major issue. I noticed that my MP Jonathan Djanogley did so.He and they need to be dealt with by the Whips.Before the next General Election his Constituancy needs to replace him

    1. A.Sedgwick
      June 13, 2019

      No, quite simply they should all be de-whipped.

    2. Bryan Harris
      June 13, 2019

      Time we all complained to our Constituancy parties and got the worst offenders recalled…!

  4. Peter Wood
    June 13, 2019

    Sir John,

    Your governments success yesterday is perhaps mostly due to the existential threat to it posed by the Brexit Party. One hopes that TBP’s influence will continue to focus the minds of the weaker souls in the PCP, to ensure we leave on 31st October.

    We have to thank Mr Farage again for giving us hope….

    1. Nigl
      June 13, 2019

      Pour encourager les autres. Whoops sorry Dominic!

    2. Peter
      June 13, 2019

      Agreed. It will not be over though until there is a General Election and the public have a chance to address the disconnect between various MPs and their constituencies.

    3. Leslie Singleton
      June 13, 2019

      Dear Peter–Agree absolutely–Beats me why Boris is not already PM, with Nigel in the Lords and in the Cabinet. Let the wretched EU pick the bones out of that.

      1. hefner
        June 13, 2019

        Which Boris as PM, London Boris or Trumpy Boris? (copyright Raphael Behr).

    4. Mark
      June 13, 2019

      The influence on Labour MPs who voted with the government or abstained is also important.

      1. Helen Smith
        June 13, 2019

        Bless them everyone, actually took courage to do that.

        1. Turboterrier
          June 13, 2019

          Chris

          Integrity? What integrity.
          You failed to mention the H o L. All tarred with the same brush.

  5. Ian wragg
    June 13, 2019

    It’s amazing what a few deselections and a wipe out at the Euros can do. I think there maybe some more gimmicks to delay and frustrate.
    In normal time the rebels would have the whip withdrawn but of course May agrees with them.

    1. jerry
      June 13, 2019

      @Ian wragg; More likely it’s amazing how the prospect of a Corbyn lead Labour victory in the HoC concentrates the minds of Tory MPs, it would have been another nail in this Govts coffin – in office but not in power…

      Did the threat of de-selection stop the usual suspects from voting to stop Brexit, I some how doubt it [1], but their votes were off-set by opposition MPs who do support the need to leave what-ever.

      The real threat doesn’t come from wayward constituency MPs, it comes from wayward would-be leaders, including Brexit supporting ‘no hopes’ who might appeal to Tory MPs but not the wider membership, never mind ultimately the wider electorate come the next GE.

      [1] not had chance to check the voting record

    2. Timaction
      June 13, 2019

      Not only agrees but supports them behind the scenes. Only yesterday when launching her lunatic zero CO2 omissions policy from 2050 with NO COSTINGS! She should be quiet and told no more of anything. She’s a loose cannon!

  6. Dominic
    June 13, 2019

    The sight of 10 Tory MPs siding with the opposition in this vote is without question one of the most shameful events in Tory party and Parliamentary history

    The opposition we see today is without question composed of people who actually despise this nation and all that it is. To ally with such people is so abhorrent and so detestable to be bordering on sedition

    This is the result of decades of EU infection. The EU disease has corroded our Parliamentary democracy

    Whoever becomes PM they will have a task to rebuild this nation from the bottom up starting with restoring faith in British democracy, abolishing postal voting and ending with the destruction of Labour’s grip on the British state.

    The damage caused by Labour’s election in 1997 has been so immense it will take generations to repair

    1. jerry
      June 13, 2019

      Dominic; “The opposition we see today is without question composed of people who actually despise this nation and all that it is.”

      That would be why, I suspect, those would would claim to despise this nation (the hard left) voted with the Govt.

      As for your last paragraph, perhaps, but let’s not forget why the Labour party had such a whopping majority, and also who was PM when the EEC was being morphed into what has become the EU, cheering the single market as the way forward – Mr Foot and Co. would had us out 35 years ago, Mr Shore & Co. would not have had us join in the first place some 47 years ago!

      Just who despises this nation most, those who want Socialism or those more intent on making a quick buck?

      1. Edward2
        June 13, 2019

        Those who want socialism.

    2. Caterpillar
      June 13, 2019

      Worse that some argue the HoC’s has democratic superiority over a referendum when the people were given the decision.
      More shameful behaviour to come when at least one Conservative MP has indicated he would be prepared to bring to govt down to stop leaving without the WA.

      1. Turboterrier
        June 13, 2019

        Caterpillar

        It is not an agreement surely its power is that of a treaty. Our host might like to explain the difference.
        For me treaty has far more power and implications in the long term.

        1. Caterpillar
          June 13, 2019

          Turboterrier,

          I think you are correct a treaty is an international agreement under international law, so once agreed to there are no excuses for failing to implement in terms of inadequacy of domestic law etc, so long term power, yup. (Need to ask a lawyer or Attorney General on relevance of Vienna convention wherein a treaty is between states, and the EU is not a state).

    3. J Bush
      June 13, 2019

      Totally agree.

    4. Sharon Jagger
      June 13, 2019

      Dominic

      I utterly agree with you.

      I donā€™t care what anyone says to the contrary, our country has had decades of EU infection. A lot of the behaviour we are witnessing is typical EU authoritarian behaviour.

    5. Spratt
      June 13, 2019

      Seconded

    6. NickC
      June 13, 2019

      Dominic said: “The opposition we see today is without question composed of people who actually despise this nation . . .. True. But we have a PM, and government, who also despise our nation.

      From telling us we did not know what we were voting for – despite their repeated Remain propaganda – to simply calling us thick, or even failing to counter such narratives, the government has sold out this nation to the EU. We will have to see if a new PM can rescue us, assuming s/he wants to.

    7. Mark
      June 13, 2019

      Don’t forget those who failed to support the government by abstaining, including minister Claire Pretty, who managed to turn up to support Greg Clark introducing the most expensive bill Parliament has ever considered to commit the country to zero carbon.

      1. Mark
        June 13, 2019

        My apologies to Ms Perry – my tablet performed autocorrect spelling on her name. I did not intend to demean her by giving her the wrong name: she should blame Google.

  7. Alan Jutson
    June 13, 2019

    Simply amazing that so many MP’s still think taking “No Deal” off the table is a good idea, and that further delay is helpful.

    Pray tell me how have we moved forward since March 29th, other than getting the Prime Minister to resign, who by the way still thinks her putrid Withdrawal Agreement is/was the only way forward, given the number of times she said so at Prime Ministers Question time.
    Has she learn’t nothing.

    1. Dave Andrews
      June 13, 2019

      When MPs say take no deal off the table, they really mean cancel Brexit.
      The EU have said emphatically they won’t do a deal with the UK until we have left, which means we must leave without a deal.
      For them to then say they respect the referendum decision is a deceit.

    2. Denis Cooper
      June 13, 2019

      For me it’s also rather amazing that MPs – and others such as journalists – assume that it would even be possible to “take no deal off the table”.

      Another attempt to make this point, sent to the Telegraph yesterday:

      “Speaking in the Commons debate today an MP claimed that the people “want no deal taken off the table”.

      Even if that were the case it could not be achieved through a decision taken just by the UK, rather it would be necessary to persuade the EU and all its member states to amend Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union which at present does not permit the EU to take no deal off the table.

      What is being proposed is comparable to the unilateral disarmament advocated by Jeremy Corbyn and his colleagues in CND, and just as foolish.”

    3. Doug Powell
      June 13, 2019

      Exactly!
      I, too was amazed when watching PMQs! She believes she, and only she, can be right! – “If the House had voted for my WA, we would have been out by now!” – ie; it wasn’t MY fault!

      Well PM, if YOU had kept to the timetable, we would have been out by now!
      If YOU hadn’t undermined the efforts of successive Brexit Secretaries we would also been out by now!

      If, as YOU should have done, signed article 50 letter on day one, we would also have been out by now. Instead YOU delayed, even pandered to the Remoaners, giving them time to recover from their shock, regroup, and orchestrate their opposition!

      An earliest possible Brexit would have caught the Remoaners in disarray and they would have had no option but to accept it.

      All the bitterness and division in the country today is down to YOUR delay. ie; YOUR fault PM!
      IN the name of God, just for once, will you admit that YOU are responsible for what has become the Brexit disaster!

  8. Narrow Shoulders
    June 13, 2019

    This attempt failed but the EU zealots will regroup with the assistance of the speaker and return.

    All of this will make renegotiation by a new PM much more difficult as we are divided unlike the EU 27

  9. Roy Grainger
    June 13, 2019

    “Yesterday the combined forces of the Opposition parties”

    Plus 10 Conservative MPs who voted to given Corbyn a blank cheque to further disrupt Brexit. That’s why voting Conservative at an election is so ineffective, you’re not sure if they’ll support Labour after they’re elected. Best stick to TBP.

  10. Mark B
    June 13, 2019

    Good morning

    I am sorry but I find our kind host is being a little less than honest here. It was not just the opposition but, members of his own party. These members need to have the Whip removed. This would never have happwned in Mrs.T’s day.

    End of !

  11. Andy
    June 13, 2019

    We are a step nearer no deal. And a step nearer prison for those MPs who advocate it.

    1. Mitchel
      June 13, 2019

      Presumably,like crimes against socialism ,there is no defence against the accusation of a crime against Remain.Will you seek to extract a confession first(after all Vyshinsky did declare that “confession is the queen of all evidence.”)?

    2. NickC
      June 13, 2019

      Andy, Separately from normal crime, in politics, prison is usually reserved for traitors.

    3. Mike Wilson
      June 14, 2019

      And a step nearer prison for those MPs who advocate it.

      And a step nearer the lunatic asylum for you, it seems.

  12. hans christian ivers
    June 13, 2019

    Sir JR,

    What Brexit did we actually vote for?

    1. Denis Cooper
      June 13, 2019

      More to the point is what MPs voted for when they passed the Act to authorise the Prime Minister to put in the Article 50 notice.

      That very short 2017 Act is here:

      http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/9/contents/enacted

      and it says nothing at all about the Prime Minister having to revoke the notice should it prove impossible to conclude/ratify a withdrawal agreement.

      It could have done, if during the passage of the Bill a majority of MPs had insisted upon introducing that kind of provision, which some of them might have seen as a necessary safeguard.

      If they did not bother to look at the text of the Article before they voted to allow the notice to go in they should not now try to go back on what they voted for.

      1. sm
        June 13, 2019

        Thank you Denis, a far more lucid version of what I have been muttering about for the last two years.

    2. agricola
      June 13, 2019

      We voted to leave the EU. We did not vote on when it would happen or how it might happen or what sort of trading arrangements might pertain after we left. It was a simple binary decision, in or out, not a qualified decision containing all the bells that many remainers would like to hang on our decision. Consequently the electorates frustration at Parliaments inability to take instruction on a subject that Parliament had handed to the electorate for final decision.

    3. libertarian
      June 13, 2019

      hans

      We voted for the one in the EU rule book .

      Trigger Article 50 then leave within two years. There was never an alternative.

    4. NickC
      June 13, 2019

      Hans, I was unaware that you had voted for Brexit. Remain attempts to re-define Leave have become boring. But to confirm to a bore, the Leave we voted for was to leave the EU – to leave the EU treaties, to no longer be a part of the EU, to cease having to obey the EU within our own land, to not rejoin the EU for at least a generation. As confirmed by TEU Art50 and both the Remain and Leave campaigns.

    5. L Jones
      June 13, 2019

      ”What Brexit did we actually vote for?”

      It was spelt: L E A V E

      Clear now?

  13. Alex
    June 13, 2019

    298 MPs vote against democracy meanwhile May tries to ruin the country before she leaves with her ludicrous carbon neutral fantasy. Politics really is the enemy of the people today.

    1. Turboterrier
      June 13, 2019

      Alex

      Totally correct.

  14. agricola
    June 13, 2019

    While the media agonise over whether a particular candidate smoked wacky baccy or sniffed the white stuff in their youth, do they realise the hypochracy in their questions. The media are traditionally steeped in alchohol or were until the left grub street. Who enquires into their drug habits. Perhaps,as one contributor suggested, all politicians, chattering classes and media should be subject to random drug tests, as are sportsmen. Here is a go nowhere thought, lets put the MI5 dossiers on many of our prominent politicians on public display. Interesting reading for a wet weekend. Why do we only discover the traitors in our society after they are dead or gone.

    The greatest PM, Winston Churchill, made his share of mistakes while in lesser offices, his consumption of alchohol was supposedly prodigious, but when his real time came he was formidable as a wartime leader. I would contend that anyone who has led a blameless youth and emerged whiter than white is suspect as a balanced human being. We have all nibbled the apple at some time and realised it was not the way to go.

    1. Mitchel
      June 13, 2019

      Churchill greatest PM ?- I doubt it.Inspirational war leader certainly but his total lack of vision for an independent Britain after the war(compared to Stalin and Roosevelt who knew exactly what they wanted)left us trapped in an American globalist system which led to us into being absorbed into the European project.

      1. agricola
        June 13, 2019

        Bizarre logic.

        1. Mitchel
          June 14, 2019

          Nothing bizarre about it.If you loathe the EU,you also have to recognise that it is in essence an American creation and it was Churchill who placed us in a servile relationship with the USA,albeit this was confirmed by the first Labour postwar government,who browbeaten by Keynes’s insistent promotion of the Grand Project,reluctantly dropped the idea of imperial autarchy as the way forward.

  15. Alan Warhurst
    June 13, 2019

    To bring other disloyal members in line, the head of the snake needs to be removed.
    Grieve and Letwin should have the whip withdrawn as soon as possible, and hopefully their respective constituencies will bring a no confidence vote against them.
    There is only a slim majority for the cons, so although it would be satisfying to withdraw the whip from them all, they need bringing in line.

  16. Simeon
    June 13, 2019

    Sir John, you rightly point out that the government’s negotiating position would have been further weakened had yesterday’s vote gone the other way, but I wonder whether this weakening would have been meaningful. I say this because of the position of the frontrunner in your party’s leadership race, Boris Johnson. Yesterday, he very clearly said that, whilst he would “vigorously and seriously” prepare for a no deal Brexit, this would be not because he wanted such, but because he wanted a deal with the EU. The purpose of preparing for a no deal, in his mind, is to secure a ‘better’ deal.

    Saying this in private to trusted people would be fine. Broadcasting this view to all and sundry, including the EU, is not. Are the EU going to produce a better offer when they know that no deal preparations are essentially a bluff? And, it would seem, a transparently poor bluff, when there is an understanding that Whitehall is nowhere near ready for a no deal – no surprise when one considers who has been in government.

    I understand that Johnson addressed members of the ERG last week, and on that basis secured the ringing endorsement of some senior figures within the group. One can only assume that what he said on that occasion was markedly different to what he said yesterday. Is the problem that Johnson is a poor communicator, unable to accurately articulate his thoughts and ideas? Or is it that his thoughts and ideas are inconsistent? Or is it that we don’t know what his actual intentions are, because he says one thing to one audience, and something else to another? Perhaps it is something else, but whatever, he is not inviting confidence in his leadership.

  17. matthu
    June 13, 2019

    One sensible decision. But counter-balanced by May’s decision to lay a “statutory instrument” in the Commons on Wednesday ā€“ a tactic that allows it to be fast-tracked through both houses of Parliament if other parties agree ā€“ committing the country to net zero emissions by 2050.

    Taking the country down with her before she departs. At a cost estimated by the Chancellor to be close to 1 trillion pounds. Or 50 billion a year, every year, for twenty years.

    Without debate. Without public consultation.

    No doubt supported by the vast majority of Conservative PM candidates and parliamentary members, none of who will want to record a vote in opposition.

    1. Fed up with the bull
      June 13, 2019

      Matthu. God, I feel sick reading the numbers involved. This will make us a poorer nation with things like our NHS, social care, education etc being killed in the process. Utter madness and time we got rid of these idiots.

  18. Mick
    June 13, 2019

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1139648/Brexit-news-Grieve-no-deal-UK-EU-withdrawal-Parliament-vote-Labour-latest
    Why hasnā€™t the whip been taken away from grieve and all the other conservative Brexit blocker remoaners, come the next GE if these pro Eu loving remoaners are still up for re-election in a GE they will be fair game for the up and coming Brexit Party along with labour and other MPs who have constantly tried to thwart Brexit

  19. Caterpillar
    June 13, 2019

    The current PM and potential leaders who are willing to keep no deal ‘on the table’, particularly those guaranteeing exit at e/10, should today all be making public statement encouraging firms to sign up to EORI and TSP. The longer Parliament signals no deal will not happen, the longer it will take firms to prepare, the longer the BCC, IOD etc can cry not ready. Preparation needs to be pushed hard now to break the loop.

  20. Newmania
    June 13, 2019

    The country is already humiliated. Across the EU support is now up to 70% and even Fascists that were friendly to Brexit have dropped leaving as an objective. The sight of our mistake has inspired pro EU enthusiasm abroad and at home. Polls continue to suggest the majority feel 2016 was a mistake. If a minority government suspends Parliament for 3months to force a reckless measure opposed by the House and the country with no mandate to do soā€¦. Then we have regressed to Oliver Cromwell`s period .

    1. Edward2
      June 13, 2019

      Who are these Fascists you refer to?

    2. Mitchel
      June 13, 2019

      Newmania’s version of a Restoration Comedy!

    3. Denis Cooper
      June 13, 2019

      Well, I’m not sure about Oliver Cromwell’s time but it seems we now have many MPs who cannot read, and so they did not realise that when they voted to empower the Prime Minister to put in the Article 50 notice of withdrawal they were voting for the UK to leave the EU with or without a withdrawal agreement.

      http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/9/pdfs/ukpga_20170009_en.pdf

      “An Act to confer power on the Prime Minister to notify, under Article 50(2) of
      the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdomā€™s intention to withdraw
      from the EU … ”

      Without any condition or qualification or safeguard to prevent that leading to our withdrawal without any agreement, as per Article 50(2).

    4. libertarian
      June 13, 2019

      Newmania

      Yes they’ve been rioting in France for 28 consecutive weeks in solidarity with more Federalism …… I guess you’ve never been to Europe

      1. Newmania
        June 14, 2019

        We live in Europe

    5. Steve
      June 13, 2019

      Newmania

      I d0n’t know where you are getting your new from, but it’s clearly the inverse of the facts.

      Or perhaps you are just typing what you want to believe is happening, in total ignorance of reality.

      However the good news is that treatment is available, which I believe you should seriously consider before you end up talking to yourself and eating flies.

    6. L Jones
      June 13, 2019

      Our country is humiliated in the main by people such as yourself spouting such hysterical and ill-informed tosh.

      You remainers seem to enjoy nothing more than anticipating our country suffering in some way – yes, ‘gleeful’ is definitely the word that springs to mind.

      Perhaps you should go and find a home in a country you can actually admire. But make sure it isn’t one which won’t allow you to criticise with impunity.

  21. Michael
    June 13, 2019

    Unfortunately there will be similar opportunities before 31st October.

    Why do Tory MP’s who vote against the Government continue to have the Tory whip?

  22. A.Sedgwick
    June 13, 2019

    It is not surprising we have a rogue parliament. Even after three years of May she cannot go quietly, trying to enforce a Ā£1 trillion cost on energy users by advancing the disastrous Climate Change Act, sending manufacturing overseas to the real polluters i.e. the main coal users.

    1. Turboterrier
      June 13, 2019

      A Sedgwick.
      The woman and her pet CCC are determined to destroy this country as a competitive manufacturing base. Totally out of touch with world economics and national job security. If we do not manufacture and export our goods the country collapses. Their ignorance begs belief.

  23. Fred H
    June 13, 2019

    The shambles continues. Truly awful to think that the move to stop a possible exit from ‘No deal’ was so narrowly defeated. The Conservatives supporting it MUST be expelled. Public ridicule is not enough. The party is on a knife edge for survival, unless it is inhabited by those who wish it fatally damaged. Escaping becoming a minor party and playing no part in the majority result of the next GE is the challenge. When are your fellow MPs going to wake up?

    1. L Jones
      June 13, 2019

      For some reason they believe they are invincible. Perhaps the prospect of remaining stuck in the EU makes them feel so, protected and secure. A job for life, perhaps, if they can only pull it off?

  24. J Bush
    June 13, 2019

    The politicians who keep saying it is not democratic to just leave and that Parliament must be involved in the decision making.

    Err, they have already done that. There are far too many who think they can ignore the manifesto they were elected on. However, they cannot ignore the majority vote that allowed the Referendum To Let The People Decide.

    More importantly is the Withdrawal Act underpinned by EU Article 50, states the UK can leave with or WITHOUT a deal, which was voted for by a huge majority. So who is being undemocratic here?

    This needs to be constantly repeated in Parliament.

    1. Turboterrier
      June 13, 2019

      J Bush

      Why should it be constantly repeated? Thereare none so deaf as those that will not listen. At the moment there are just about a 100 odd that have a clue what we the people expect. The others treat us with contempt.

      1. Denis Cooper
        June 13, 2019

        It needs to be repeated to the general public, and MPs who claim they were never consulted about leaving without a deal should be pilloried.

  25. ELMES Joy
    June 13, 2019

    THE REFERENDUM of 2016 was won by the LEAVE voters and therefore REMAIN was off the table. It would have been if the result had been REMAIN, then LEAVE would have accepted the result.
    The idea that REMAIN was even an option should have been stamped out from the beginning. This country has spent three years trying to take the route we voted for.
    Once Article 50 was triggered we had chosen a path and the whole country should have got behind the plans for a better, free Britain. We voted to take that risk, being told we could not know know the outcome. But we voted to leave because we did know the outcome of remaining. More entrapment, sucked deeper and deeper into the EU. I voted leave for the future of the people of Britain, not slavery for the future generations. We voted LEAVE, true there was no mention of No Deal, but also no mention of a deal either. It was a straightforward question and it got a straightforward answer. LEAVE. Only the bravest voted to leave, people who were unsure, or needed more info and reassurance would have settled for the status quo. So it was remarkable to win the referendum. But the remainders who have never accepted the result are turning this into a farce, damaging businesses etc. We should have had certainty after Article 50, but we are still trapped in limbo and this country has been made a laughing stock in the world. Democracy has been ridiculed. I will not live long enough to see what History makes of this period, but I hope it shows that Britain at least tried to fight for freedom, the ordinary people anyway.
    I am not on twitter or Facebook. So wish to thank you, Me Redwood for enabling me to let off steam. Many thanks.

  26. Bryan Harris
    June 13, 2019

    The establishment is responsible for indoctrinating many through the BBC propaganda machine, but we’ve never considered that our MP’s would fall for such dirty tricks…

    We expect MP’s to be able to think for themselves, have their own opinion, but clearly too many have been ‘persuaded’ against a no-deal … but like many protestors out on the street, they can just repeat the same old sound bites – There is no depth to their understanding. THAT, or they are deliberately trying to mislead.

  27. Denis Cooper
    June 13, 2019

    JR, we should offer to help the Irish government with this problem:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48602075

    “Brexit: No-deal border checks ‘will be needed'”

    There is no reason why we should not offer to form a joint customs and veterinary unit to carry out such checks in both jurisdictions well away from the border, as well as passing a UK law to control what goods may be carried across the border into the Republic.

    There seems to be a barmy idea that once we have left the EU we will wish to behave like a bad neighbour throwing rubbish over the fence into the next door property.

  28. William Long
    June 13, 2019

    A question I have not often heard asked, is what exactly is a’No deal’ Brexit? And it is surely one that will require an answer if the Remainers succeed by other means in what they were trying to achieve yesterday. Even if we just walk out, the EU has already agreed a string of contingency measures, all of them ‘deals’ of a kind to avoid trade and transit coming to a halt, and WTO plus a pro tempore Free Trade agreement needs a ‘deal’ to be agreed. No doubt Messrs Grieve and Leftwing are hoping for a lawyers bonanza, or nightmare for the rest of us!

    1. Andy
      June 13, 2019

      This is not true. The EU has agreed, for the benefit of its members and not for the benefit of us, a temporary continuation of certain things – like flights. The key part being temporary.

      No deal does not mean the status quo when it comes to trade. It means all of the rules our companies have followed for the last 40 years are effectively ripped up overnight. The implications of this are entirely obvious. Gradual changes can significantly disrupt businesses. Abrupt ones can easily destroy them. Particularly when none of us know what we are abruptly changing too.

      And it applies to more than just business too. If you travel to Europe with an EHIC card, under no deal that may not work. If you are used to renting a car with your British driving licence, that may not work either.

      The point is that nobody really knows the extent of what will be impacted. And, as I have long said, the thing that will cause the real damage is probably not one of the risks we know about it. It is one that nobody has considered yet.

      Brexit has always been a bloody stupid idea which will make most things worse. Hence the reason it was only ever supported by the Parliamentary weirdos. But a no deal Brexit is beyond stupid. It really would be the most monumentally dumb thing any country has ever done ever.

      Still, I genuinely do not put it past any of you lot to do it anyway.

      1. Edward2
        June 13, 2019

        The EU has already said it wants no changes to EHIC nor driving licences being accepted both in the UK and EU.
        I keep being amazed how uninformed pro EU fans are as to the practical and technical parts of leaving the EU you all are.

      2. L Jones
        June 13, 2019

        Perhaps, Andy, you should expend more effort telling us why we should wish to remain shackled to your EU, rather than tell us we’re wrong to wish to escape and becoming more and more hysterical, unintelligible and insulting as you lose your own argument.

        Instead, try to tell us just in a couple of sentences why you believe there is a golden future waiting for us at the end of your EU rainbow. I’m sure you can find the words if you really try.

        Hearts and minds, Andy? Heard the expression?

        (Oh, and by the way – Brexit isn’t all about trade. Haven’t you noticed yet?)

  29. Simon
    June 13, 2019

    Until then Parliament did not realise it could not force a delay unilaterally ? Really ?

  30. ChrisS
    June 13, 2019

    At last we can maybe feel that we will actually get to leave the EU

    All we need now is for Esther, Dominic, Andrea or Boris to win the leadership election and we can be quietly confident that we will be leaving on 31st October. Remainers will do their best to keep those four off the ballot paper so that gives Brexiteer MPs a difficult choice in the first ballot.

    Can they afford to take the risk of not backing Boris and voting to keep one of the other three determined leavers in the race ? Who knows at this stage. If they get it wrong we could possibly face the nightmare of the final duo being the smooth-talking Hunt and the oily Stewart.

    The ten Conservatives that voted with the opposition yesterday should be taken to task by their Association and almost certainly de-selected. I see it reported that Grieve has even said he would now vote to bring down the government if it could stop Brexit. He absolutely has to go.

  31. ChrisS
    June 13, 2019

    Assuming one of the determined leavers wins the leadership election, the 27 and Brussels will at last have to start taking us leaving on WTO terms seriously.

    We can only hope that that causes a rethink in Berlin and Ireland. It will be a joy to see Leo, the little Leprechaun, in full panic mode and, just maybe, the German car industry will start to whisper a few home truths in Merkel’s ear.

    The events of yesterday now give me real hope that Brexit will at last work out for us. All it will now take is for Conservative MPs to deliver the right candidates for the members to vote on.

  32. J.A. Burdon-Cooper
    June 13, 2019

    Sir Oliver Letwin, Dominic Grieve, Philip Hammond et alia are a disgrace. It is obvious to the meanest intellligence (unusually a phrase just right in this context!) that so called “No Deal” must be left on the table; it is equally obvious that so called “No Deal” is not a cliff edge or a disaster, and even now much has been done to minimise any temporary problems.
    Can they not see that it is this childish playing at parliamentary games which so annoys the electorate? They would rather undermine the next Prime Minister and risk Corbyn, than use a bit of common sense. Hopefully a Prime Minister with some guts will discipline them!

    Boris Johnson yesterday in his answer to the final press question eloquently made the point that Brexit is NOT turning our back on Europe, but rather should enhance our re;lations and trade with our continuing friends and neighbours in Europe. Much more emphasis should be made of this point, which would undermine these defeatist anti British remoaners even more.

  33. Bob
    June 13, 2019

    I understand that the previous vote you referred to was won because a Labour MP with an ankle tag, who was supposed to be at home under curfew decided to break her parole conditions and travelled to the HoC to vote for the Remainer led option which led to a tie and enabled the biased Speaker to carry the vote for the anti Brexit side.

    We need a General Election, the swamp needs draining.

    1. Mitchel
      June 13, 2019

      Are swamp creatures likely to drain the swamp though?!

    2. Caterpillar
      June 13, 2019

      Bob,

      I think a general election is becoming inevitable. It seems very unlikely that Mr Johnson, or whoever wins, will be able to carry a no deal or improve the WA so that it does not come back to haunt the Conservatives. The current Conservative MPs just put Mr Stewart ahead of Ms McVey and that says everything that anyone needs to know about the swamp.

    3. CvM
      June 13, 2019

      No idea if the thing you say about parole is true or not but she is no longer an MP

    4. Fred Cooper
      June 13, 2019

      …. Hmmm…. I suggest we LEAVE the scum where they are, , & NOT drain the swamp,… top it up with, oh, shall we say, 39 Billion gallons of water???

    5. Turboterrier
      June 13, 2019

      Bob

      Drain the swamp it will never happen.
      It would take a revolution across the nation to make it happen. 500 odd of the present incumbents all know they are coated with Teflon. Not responsible, or accountable for anything.

  34. EastDevonExTory
    June 13, 2019

    It is good news that Labour’s latest cynical attempt to derail BREXIT, aided and assisted by Speaker Bercow and the 10 pseudo-Tories. These people do not want to prevent No Deal they want to Stop BREXIT, this is evidenced by Starmer and others calling for Labour to back Remain in a 2nd Referendum.
    Will Labour move a motion of No Confidence? If the pseudo-Tory bunch vote to bring down the Govt they will in effect commit political suicide, as Allen, Wollaston and Soubry have done, none have shown themselves to be that brave to date with only weak discipline within the Tory Party allowing them to act so freely without fear of losing the whip,
    Can Labour afford a General election any more than the Tories? The rise of the BREXIT Party is impacting as much on Labour as the Tories and a GE is unlikely to return a Labour majority.

    1. ChrisS
      June 13, 2019

      A General Election does not need to deliver a Labour majority to put Corbyn in No 10.

      The Brexit party will gain a small number of seats, mainly at the expense of the Conservatives, but will take enough votes in other normally-Conservative seats to let in the Remainer opposition.

      The most likely outcome, assuming Brexit is not delivered beforehand, is therefore an ad hoc coalition government of Labour, SNP, Green and Libdem MPs, each trying to outspend each other with our money. Brexit will then be dead.

      Even if Boris or Raab deliver Brexit and then go on to lose the next election, the price for putting Corbyn in power demanded be the other three parties will be the reversal of Brexit, on whatever lousy terms the EU then offers them.

      1. Dave Andrews
        June 13, 2019

        Reverse Brexit after we have left? Would that take another referendum? Or will they just do it with parliamentary sovereignty?
        The people of Britain won’t wear it to go over this again, and I imagine the EU would consider it too toxic as well.

  35. James Matthews
    June 13, 2019

    Serious thanks are due to the few brave and patriotic Labour MPs who made this result possible. Nothing but opprobrium to the renegade Tories who voted with the opposition. They should never be forgiven.

    1. BR
      June 13, 2019

      Seconded.

      1. Gary C
        June 13, 2019

        +1

  36. Billm
    June 13, 2019

    A super result that had very sinister origins. Strange that the Telegraph did not report it in their on-line edition. Ditto the report on the disreputable MP D Grieve for voting with Labour to attempt to bring down his own Government. What possesses the man (And the other 9 Tory MPs) to adopt this anti-Brexit posture?

    1. Oggy
      June 13, 2019

      Grieve is 25% French, has been awarded Franceā€™s highest medal – the Legion of Honor. He also has a house in France and broadcasts in French on French TV and radio.
      Nothing more needs to be said.

  37. miami.mode
    June 13, 2019

    The result of this may well ensure that we leave on 31st October with or without any sort of deal as some Tory MPs have indicated they would vote against the government on a confidence vote in the event of no deal and a new PM could not allow such circumstances to arise.

  38. Ken Gray
    June 13, 2019

    What Brexit did we vote for? Norway, Switz, canada, WTO? Leavers never agreed in 2016, still dont agree now. And all 10 wouldbe PMs have a different story. Time to go back to the people

    1. mancunius
      June 13, 2019

      Nor did we vote for free ice cream and a visit to Mars, Ken.
      The question on the ballot was to remain in the EU or leave it. No ifs or buts. People worked out the possible consequences of an already aggressively anglophobic EU for themselves.
      The ones who pop up on the BBC and say they voted leave but they’ve been put off by the xenophobia and were misled by a bus – they fool nobody, except possibly you.

      Did you vote to remain in an EU with a pooled, unitary tax policy, ‘Ken’?
      Did you consider when you voted to remain in the EU that you would have to contribute to Mrs Merkel’s new EU Army to replace NATO? It had already been leaked in May, and was publicised, erm, after the June referendum.
      Did you vote for Turkish accession to the EU? (If not, why not? Turkey/EU negotiations proceeded apace until 2017. If you voted logically to include Turkey in Eruope, were you not bitterly disappointed when the accession process came to a halt? It is an important matter, or don’t you care?)
      Did you vote Albanians and Macedonians to be allowed unrestricted permanent domicile in the UK, whether employed or on benefits? You didn’t? And yet you knew it would happen. Or were you misled by the remainer propaganda, ‘Ken’?

      Anyone who decides to divorce takes the decision knowing in advance that the consequences, however transiently painful, do not outweight the benefits of leaving – so did we. You however seem to have just voted for a lazy old ‘status quo’ – blithely unaware that it is no status quo, but an expensive project of ‘ideals’ (i.e. sophisticated pocket-picking). Luckily, the vast majority knew exactly what they wanted – to leave, regardless of whether the EU showed itself amenable to common sense or not. I guessed it wouldn’t, and it has not disappointed on that score.

    2. Gary C
      June 13, 2019

      @ Ken Gray

      “What Brexit did we vote for?

      We were repeatedly told we would be leaving the customs union.
      We were repeatedly told we would be leaving the single market.
      We were repeatedly told LEAVE means LEAVE.

      We were repeatedly lied to!

    3. L Jones
      June 13, 2019

      ”Go back to the people”. In other words, have another referendum without honouring the result of the first.
      Yes – great idea, I don’t think.

      By the way – what Brexit did we vote for, you ask.

      Does the word ”L E A V E” suggest anything to you?

  39. BR
    June 13, 2019

    Yes, good news, for now. They have another of these days to abuse in… September?

    This shows just how modern so-called MPs will abuse the unwritten constitution in a hung parliament – and if we get to a 3-party system we may see more of this.

    Is it becoming increasingly difficult to argue against a change to our constitution? Having clearer written rules, especially for the Speaker role and defined period of tenure.

    Otherwise, the next constitutional crisis may well be that Corbyn is in power and wants to extend the term of parliament to 156 years, then a one-party State… šŸ™

    1. BR
      June 13, 2019

      Er… that was meant to be 15 years, not 156!

      1. L Jones
        June 13, 2019

        Don’t give ’em ideas.

    2. mancunius
      June 13, 2019

      Yes, they’ll keep on having a go: I overheard one MP shouting menacingly above the cheers as the result was carried to the Speaker: ‘You won’t be cheering in September!’
      You can hear it on the parliament tv recording of yesterday’s proceedings at 16:43:02. (Maybe someone can identify the MP from his voice? He was off camera.)

      These smirking refuseniks know that,……..they only have to be lucky once.

  40. rose
    June 13, 2019

    Who kept saying the Parliamentary arithmetic hasn’t changed?

    1. mancunius
      June 13, 2019

      Only thanks to the Brexit Party coming into being and scaring the living daylights out of the ‘cosy-safe-seat’ brigade.

  41. Denis Cooper
    June 13, 2019

    The Explanatory Notes to the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017:

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/9/pdfs/ukpgaen_20170009_en.pdf

    conclude with a table of the Bill’s progress through its successive stages in Parliament, with links to the appropriate Hansard references.

    Any MP who voted to pass that Bill, without any provision to compel the Prime Minister to seek to rescind the Article 50 notice of withdrawal in the event that no withdrawal agreement could be brought into force under its terms, cannot now legitimately complain that he was never asked to authorise a “no deal” scenario, or that the government has no mandate to proceed on that basis.

    So, for example, I find Rory Stewart, who has now joined Philip Hammond and Dominic Grieve in threatening to bring down the government, voting with the government in every division on that Bill as it went through its successive stages in the Commons.

    The fact that the Bill, completely lacking any kind of safeguard against a “no deal” exit as it did, passed its Third Reading by 494 to 122:

    https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-02-08/division/0293BE52-2603-4E5C-BAE3-C03D371FB92C/EuropeanUnion(NotificationOfWithdrawal)Bill?outputType=Names#division-9636

    must call into question what on earth 176 MPs out of the 298 who voted against leaving the EU without a deal yesterday thought they were doing, apart from demonstrating their own incompetence and/or duplicity.

Comments are closed.