Rejects all Brexit options

House of Commons rejects all Brexit options — again

Conservative Party backbencher Nick Boles resigns his party’s whip over colleagues’ refusal to compromise.

By CHARLIE COOPER AND ANNABELLE DICKSON

Just when you thought the House of Commons couldn’t get more dysfunctional — it does.

On the night MPs were thought to be close to coalescing, at a second time of asking, around a Brexit compromise, they defied expectations to yet again reject all options on the table.

The result of the second round of so-called indicative votes means that with just 11 days until Brexit day, the country still has no plan to present to EU27 leaders next week that could form the basis of a further extension to the Article 50 negotiating period. The alternative is to leave with no deal, with all the economic disruption that entails.

On a night of high emotion in the Commons chamber, Speaker John Bercow captured the mood of uncertainty bordering on nervous anxiety.

“We have to await, as [former PM Harold] Macmillan used to say, events and see what transpires tomorrow … but I can’t say with any confidence what will happen and in that respect, I think I’m, frankly, not in a minority.”

Customs union vs. second referendum

Admittedly, the votes were close.

A proposal for the U.K. to pursue a customs union with the EU, backed by the opposition Labour Party, lost by just three votes — 276 to 273. It was rejected by most Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party, but also by some supporters of a second referendum.

Its sponsor, veteran Conservative MP Ken Clarke, hit out at those MPs on the anti-Brexit side of the argument who voted against it, begging “People’s Vote” supporters to accept they would struggle to win a majority, and to compromise. “We cannot go on with everybody voting against every proposition,” he said.

But supporters of a second public vote will feel emboldened that a motion proposing a confirmatory referendum on any Brexit deal that passes the Commons lost out by just 12 votes (292 to 280). They will probably struggle to win more support though. Despite Labour whipping for the motion, 24 of its MPs refused to back it. The bulk of them are concerned about the response in their Leave-voting constituencies to an outcome that could lead to no Brexit at all.

A third motion, for a so-called Common Market 2.0 — leaving the U.K. in the single market and in a de-facto customs union — was rejected by 282 to 261 votes. Its chief architect MP Nick Boles resigned from the Conservative Party in the House of Commons chamber minutes after the vote.

“I’ve given everything to an attempt to find a compromise that can take this country out of the European Union while maintaining our economic strength and our political cohesion,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I accept I have failed. I have failed chiefly because my party refuses to compromise.”

Marathon Cabinet meeting

Now Theresa May steps back into the frame. Almost entirely absent Monday, the prime minister will chair a marathon Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning: three hours of political Cabinet with her ministers and a further two hours of normal Cabinet with civil servants present.

The next step is likely to be another attempt to pass the deal May negotiated with Brussels in November. But what the country should do if it fails again divides the Cabinet almost down the middle. Some lean toward the customs union compromise that so nearly won a majority Monday evening, while others want May to go for no deal. She faces resignations and a potential party split whichever way she turns. Many in Westminster therefore wonder if an election to break the deadlock in the Commons is inevitable.

“I can’t help but feeling that things are moving in that way,” said one government official familiar with Cabinet discussions.

Following the inconclusive indicative votes, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay suggested the government could bring May's deal back for a fourth attempt at ratification this week. He said that if a deal could be approved this week, there is still a chance that any further extension to Article 50 granted by the EU would not require the U.K. to take part in the European Parliament election next month.

“To secure any further extension, the government will have to put forward a credible proposition to the EU as to what we will do with that extra time,” Barclay said. “This House has continuously rejected leaving without a deal, just as it has rejected not leaving at all. Therefore the only option is to find a way through which allows the U.K. to leave with a deal.”

There is, however, no indication that MPs’ failure to approve an alternative makes them any more likely to back May’s deal. For the unreconciled hard Brexiteers, a no-deal Brexit that they see as favorable to May’s deal seems closer after Monday’s votes. For the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Ireland backstop — the only thing that really matters to them — remains unchanged.

“It is hard to see how the numbers on it change,” said one former Tory minister. “My advice to Cabinet would be to really take note of what MPs said today, the customs union is something that has nearly found favor and whether that is something the government is able to show some willingness to discuss and embrace even at this late stage.”

MPs might get a third chance to vote on Brexit options Wednesday, when the architect of the indicative votes process, Conservative MP and Boles ally Oliver Letwin, has control of the Commons timetable for another day.

Then on April 10 the EU27 meet to decide whether the U.K. will leave the EU without a deal on April 12, or whether another, potentially long extension to its EU membership beckons.