Brexit: Theresa May gathers ministers in face of 'constitutional crisis'

Prime Minister Theresa May will gather her top ministers on Tuesday morning as they try to find a way past a bombshell ruling by Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow.

In a major intervention on Monday, Mr Bercow cited a centuries-old convention as he blocked Mrs May from bringing back her twice-defeated Brexit deal for a third vote in the Commons unless it is "substantially" different.

Mr Barclay told Sky News this now makes it "more unlikely" another "meaningful vote" will be held on the EU withdrawal deal this week, as had been expected before the Speaker's action.

It had been thought Mrs May would urge MPs to back her deal in order to secure a short delay to Brexit at this week's European Council summit, while she has warned another defeat would mean a longer delay to the UK's departure from the EU.

 

 

 

Mr Barclay said: "The Speaker has raised the bar with his ruling yesterday, clearly that merits serious consideration and we will discuss it at Cabinet this morning.

"We always said, in terms of bringing a vote back for a third time, we would need to see a shift from parliamentarians in terms of the support.

"I think that still is the case."

The Brexit secretary urged MPs to "respect the role" of the Speaker, whose position is impartial, but suggested Mr Bercow had now been inconsistent in his rulings on Brexit.

Back in January, the Speaker - who voted Remain at the EU referendum - tore up parliamentary convention to help MPs who back a second public vote.

Setting out how the government could work round Monday's ruling, Mr Barclay said: "The Speaker himself has pointed to possible solutions.

"He himself has said in earlier rulings than we shouldn't be bound by precedent, and obviously this is based on a precedent going back to 1604.

"The Speaker himself has said where the will of the House is for a certain course of action, then it's important that will of the House is respected.

"So, it's important we look at his previous rulings in the context of yesterday's rulings as part of taking our next step."

However, Mr Barclay appeared to rule out suggestions the government should instruct the Queen to prorogue parliament.

Prorogation is the term for the formal ending of a parliamentary session and - in modern times - has usually been followed by the opening of a new session a few days later.

It has been suggested this would allow the government to get round Mr Bercow's ruling and bring back the same Brexit deal for a third vote.

But, Mr Barclay said: "For all the divisions there are in the House of Commons at the moment - and all the divisions that there are in the country on Brexit - I think the one thing everyone would agree on is involving Her Majesty on any of the issues around Brexit is not the way forward."

The Brexit secretary also admitted, if the UK is to leave the EU with a divorce deal, this would no longer be on 29 March as Mrs May once promised.

"I don't want an extension but we are now in a situation where we do need an extension to pass the legislation for the withdrawal bill," he added.

Ministers have been left angered by Mr Bercow's ruling, with Solicitor General Robert Buckland claiming the UK is now facing a "major constitutional crisis".

It has been claimed the government could yet bring back the prime minister's deal for a vote this week, and dare the Speaker to veto it.

A government source suggested Mr Bercow's "motive" was to rule out a fresh vote on the prime minister's deal this week and a subsequent short extension to the Article 50 negotiating period.

They added this "leads you to believe what he really wants is a longer extension, where Parliament will take over the process and force a softer form of Brexit."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will on Tuesday meet MPs wanting a Norway-style relationship with the EU after Brexit.

He will also separately meet the leaders of the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cyrmu and Green Party, who are all in favour of a second EU referendum.

The Guardian