Party Defections Continue in UK Parliment
Rumblings in Westminster are starting to get louder, and more public, as the UK House of Commons tries to find a path forward with the Brexit deadline bearing down on them. As Will pointed out on Monday, the Labour MPs stepping off their party at this point in time delivers quite the message. Now, one more Labour MP and three Tories have joined the independent section of the back benches.
CNNi:
Three lawmakers walked out of UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative party on Wednesday, joining a new group in Parliament that has blown up the British political landscape in less than three days.
The trio’s decision to join a group of eight independent MPs, who split from the opposition Labour Party on Monday, caused consternation at Westminster. They denounced May’s “disastrous” handling of Brexit, and warned the Conservative Party was in danger of being taken over by extremists.
Their announcement was timed for maximum impact, dropping just before the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions. In a move freighted with symbolism, the three ex-Conservative MPs joined the eight former Labour lawmakers on the opposition benches in Parliament on Wednesday.
The move could mark the start of a reshaping of British politics as the clock continues to tick down to March 29, when the UK is due to leave the European Union. With 37 days to go, Parliament has still not approved a Brexit deal.
The new @TheIndGroup seem to be enjoying their new seats in @HouseofCommons #allchange #selfietime pic.twitter.com/n9UtE3iVB7
— John Lamont MP ????????? (@John2Win) February 20, 2019
There are a lot of moving parts here. PM Theresa May, already having agreed to step aside after Brexit is finished to stave off a no-confidence vote, has if anything lost ground on trying to shepherd a Brexit deal through the House. Opposition Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn hasn’t exactly set the world on fire either in past months, and his own party is starting to fracture under the prospect of the controversial Corbyn not just being in opposition but possibly Prime Minster himself soon. Then there are the myriad interest in UK politics from Scottish independence, economic uncertainty, the much discussed backstop and what to do with Ireland/Northern Ireland, custom’s unions, and on and on the list goes. And besides, shouldn’t the party rebels be standing for by-elections since they stood for a party they no longer are sitting with? Questions and the unknowns are far more plentiful than answers for our UK friends.
All of which is being pressurized by the looming Brexit deadline of March 29th, which is coming regardless. Personal, political, and all other interest are bound to get even more interesting and tense as it comes closer.
As someone said on another blog, we are now at the remolding the linens on the Titanic stage of Brexit.
Most likely is that something will be banged out at the absolute last minute this seems to be a huge part of human nature in all projects. It drives me nuts. Why do people insist on it? Life is too short to make everything a fire drill.Report
I’m holding out hope that the lib-dems convince everyone else to cancel brexit and we can pretend as if the last three years never happened and no one is to ever mention it again or try to repeat it.Report
The Liberal Democrats aren’t going to convince anybody of anything and have no hope of achieving power. Plus, why would the other members of the European Union allow the UK to get away with this without some serious punishment like getting rid of the pound?Report
The European High Court has already ruled that the UK may unilaterally rescind its Article 50 notice at any point before it takes effect. The other member states may be ticked off, but attempting to punish the UK would require them to find some way to do so within the treaties’ various protections afterwards. IIRC, the UK would have veto power over changes to the treaties that would allow the EU to overrule the pound’s exception.Report
Leaving the EU will horrifically hurt the UK but it will not be a picnick for the EU either. The Eu has, quite sensibly, decided to make cancelling Brexit as appealing as possible.
That said, I agree that the anti-brexit forces are pretty screwed. The liberal party has been hijacked by Corbyn. I’d curse him but true responsibility lies with the center liberals in Labor and the Tory admins who careened to this point- partnering on Bush Minor’s idiotic adventures, buying into the austerity clowns snake oil in 2008-2009 etc.Report
The government could rescind its Article 50 notice. Parliament could adopt the deal. The EU side of things is set up so that pretty much nothing can be done quickly — eg, extending the Article 50 negotiating period beyond March 29 requires unanimous consent of the 27 other member states, which might require going through their legislatures. Changing the deal requires approval of the European Parliament, which might require scheduling an extraordinary session.Report
@michael-cain
Your comment above is only partially correct. Parliament can only vote on a motion submitted by the Government. Thus, though I can bet Corbyn’s custom union proposal would command a healthy majority of the House, it can’t be brought up for a vote unless May agrees to do so.
Parliament can only vote aye or nay on the deal that May finally presents, or submit amendments to it, in practice instructions for her to try again something different, again. Or vote nay on anything and crash out of the EU on March 29
The UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50, but that will require May to ask Parliament to instruct her to revoke Article 50, since Parliament instructed her (at her request) to implement it. Parliament can’t, motu propio, pass such a Resolution.
It’s true an extension of Article 50 requires the approval of all 27 countries, but the EU negotiators have repeatedly said they will positively considered it as long as there’s a defined plan about what this extra time will be used for. Therefore, they will likely happily approve it to renegotiate from scratch based on, for example, Corbyn’s recent custom union light proposal, if May where to adopt it.
But they have also indicated they would likely reject an extension that is just kicking the can without any material changes in the current negotiating position of the UK, and that the current agreement is the only agreement possible that respects the UK’s Red Lines (and the EU’s too). Therefore, any changes to the Agreement will require a change in the UK’s position.Report