{"id":143860,"date":"2018-06-20T14:31:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T14:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/brexit-dominic-grieve-backs-down-in-commons-vote-battle\/"},"modified":"2018-06-20T14:31:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T14:31:15","slug":"brexit-dominic-grieve-backs-down-in-commons-vote-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/brexit-dominic-grieve-backs-down-in-commons-vote-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Brexit: Dominic Grieve backs down in Commons vote battle"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"EU and Union Jack flags outside the Houses of Parliament\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/1D80\/production\/_102125570_brexit_commons_getty.jpg\"\/>Image copyright                  Getty Images                                                    <\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">Ministers appear to have headed off a rebellion by Tory MPs minutes before a key vote on their say over Brexit. <\/p>\n<p>Would-be rebels were set to force a showdown on what role Parliament will have in the event of no agreed deal. <\/p>\n<p>But key figure Dominic Grieve said he was backing down after he was promised the Commons Speaker would decide whether a motion on what to do next if there is no deal can be amended by MPs.<\/p>\n<p>He told MPs that the &quot;sovereignty of Parliament&quot; had been acknowledged. <\/p>\n<p>And another potential rebel Nicky Morgan said this amounted to a &quot;meaningful vote&quot; and she would back it.<\/p>\n<p>The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019 and negotiations have been taking place over the terms of its departure.<\/p>\n<p>MPs will decide later whether they agree with the House of Lords or with the government over the long-running row over what happens if the UK cannot reach a deal with the EU or Parliament rejects the deal.<\/p>\n<p>Changes to the EU Withdrawal Bill put forward by the Lords would give MPs a greater say in these scenarios.<\/p>\n<p>The Commons vote had been expected to be tight but the government&#039;s latest concession appears to have won some of potential opponents round. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Live updates: Commons debate on EU bill<\/li>\n<li>Can Theresa May &#039;take back control&#039;?<\/li>\n<li>Brexit: All you need to know<\/li>\n<li>Brexit: Your guide to EU jargon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Labour is still urging its MPs to support the Lords&#039; amendment, describing it as the &quot;last chance&quot; for Parliament to guard against &quot;a no-deal Brexit&quot; which it says would damage the economy.<\/p>\n<p>But the government says giving Parliament the power to intervene in negotiations would bind Theresa May&#039;s hands in the talks.<\/p>\n<p>Please upgrade your browser<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/news.files.bbci.co.uk\/include\/newsspec\/19077-brexit-glossary\/assets\/project-assets\/brexit_logo--small.png\"\/><\/p>\n<h2>Your guide to Brexit jargon<\/h2>\n<p>                                                                                                                                                             Enter the word or phrase you are looking for                                                                                                                                                                                             Search                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        <\/p>\n<h2>Haven&#039;t MPs already voted on this?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes - last week the Commons overturned a differently-worded House of Lords amendment on the same subject, after would-be rebels who support giving Parliament a greater role were given assurances that the government would take their concerns into account.<\/p>\n<p>But the would-be rebels were unhappy at the government&#039;s subsequent offer to meet their concerns, describing it as a &quot;slap in the face&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday the government was defeated by 119 votes in the Lords, who tabled a new amendment which would mean MPs have to &quot;approve&quot; whatever the government decides to do if there is no Brexit deal.<\/p>\n<p>MPs are currently debating the rival amendments and will vote soon.<\/p>\n<p>The government has rejected suggestions it has tabled a last-minute amendment to deter any potential rebels, amid reports it was trying to &quot;bundle together&quot; the question of Parliament&#039;s role with other matters on which it prevailed in the Lords into a single vote. <\/p>\n<p>                           Skip Twitter post  by @bbclaurak                              <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Shows govt worried enough about the numbers to be using last minute tricks https:\/\/t.co\/2ZkQvqByQ0<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 20, 2018<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>              Report                          <\/p>\n<p>End of Twitter post  by @bbclaurak<\/p>\n<p>                                           Skip Twitter post  by @BBCNormanS                              <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Govt response on meaningful vote ammdt -  &quot;We have not tabled a last minute amendment. We tabled ours last night  and just re-tabled what we offered in the Lords.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 norman smith (@BBCNormanS) June 20, 2018<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>              Report                          <\/p>\n<p>End of Twitter post  by @BBCNormanS<\/p>\n<p>Theresa May&#039;s Conservatives do not have a majority in the House of Commons, and ministers will be hoping Tory MPs unhappy at what has been offered so far do not decide to rebel this time.<\/p>\n<p>As well as what the would-be Tory rebels choose to do, the number of Labour MPs voting with the government could also be a key factor.<\/p>\n<h2>The sticking points<\/h2>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  House of Lords                                                    <\/figure>\n<p>The debate centres on what happens in three Brexit scenarios:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If MPs vote down the UK-EU Brexit deal<\/li>\n<li>If Theresa May announces before 21 January 2019 that no deal has been reached<\/li>\n<li>If 21 January passes with no deal being struck.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Under these circumstances, the government has said, a minister will make a statement in Parliament, setting out the proposed next steps.<\/p>\n<p>MPs will then vote on this statement. According to the government, this vote should be &quot;on neutral terms&quot;, with MPs simply noting what has been said.<\/p>\n<p>But the Lords&#039; amendment goes further, saying MPs should have to &quot;approve&quot; the minister&#039;s statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Department for Exiting the European Union has now conceded that it will be up to Commons Speaker John Bercow to decide the matter at the time. <\/p>\n<h2>&#039;Issue of assurance&#039;<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking in the Commons, Dominic Grieve said he resented the way that peers had been &quot;vilified&quot; for doing their job.<\/p>\n<p>While he regarded Brexit as a &quot;historic mistake&quot;, he said he respected the vote of the British public to leave.<\/p>\n<p>He said the issue of the meaningful vote was about giving &quot;assurances to the House and many, many people in the country who are worried about this process and how it will end&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>If Parliament wished to &quot;speak with one voice&quot; and exert its influence in the face of a non-deal scenario, it &quot;has the power to do it&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier Solicitor General Robert Buckland urged MPs to make a show of &quot;national unity&quot; ahead of a key summit of EU leaders next week.<\/p>\n<p>He said it was &quot;important to send a clear message not just to the world of Westminster but to Brussels that this is a prime minister...that can get vital legislation through about Brexit&quot;.<\/p>\n<h2>EU has &#039;serious&#039; differences with UK<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, the EU has said there are &quot;serious divergences&quot; with the UK on a key issue in the negotiations - what happens to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit.<\/p>\n<p>The UK and the EU have published a joint statement outlining the progress that has been made in the talks so far.<\/p>\n<p>The EU&#039;s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, praised the &quot;dedication and commitment&quot; of the negotiating teams, and said progress had been made in &quot;separation issues&quot; like customs, VAT and the European nuclear agreement, Euratom.<\/p>\n<p>Repeating his call for a &quot;fully operational backstop&quot; to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland, he added: &quot;Today marks a step forward in these negotiations. but a lot more work needs to be done before October.&quot;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Getty Images Ministers appear to have headed off a rebellion by Tory MPs minutes before a key vote on their say over Brexit. Would-be rebels were set to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}