Remainer Tory rebels REJECT Theresa May’s ‘sneaky’ compromise over giving MPs meaningful vote on final Brexit deal
Government has published amendment to flagship withdrawal legislation which means Parliament cannot instruct the PM on how to negotiate - setting up knife-edge vote next week
REMAINER Tories tonight rejected Theresa May's “sneaky” compromise over giving MPs a “meaningful vote” on the final Brexit deal.
And they vowed to continue lobbying the PM to force her to back down - hinting she is too powerless to stand up to backbenchers.
The Government has tabled a new amendment to its flagship withdrawal legislation after talks with backbench rebels - but the wording means the Commons can’t block us quitting the EU in March next year.
Mrs May has delighted Brexiteers by staring down the rebels, but she has set up another knife-edge vote next week when the EU bill comes back to Parliament.
The pro-EU Conservatives had earlier claimed victory, but the version of the amendment which was ultimately published this evening effectively neuters their proposal, as MPs will have to vote on a so-called “neutral motion”.
This will not be amendable, and so therefore prevents Remainers from trying to keep Britain inside the EU by the back door, by moving to extend Article 50.
Leading rebel Anna Soubry angrily said it had not been agreed to by their ringleader Dominic Grieve.
She said: “I think that is unforgivable, you don’t behave like this, and I’m very, very disappointed. It will be crunch time in my opinion.”
Mr Grieve said himself that it was "unacceptable", adding: "It is not in accordance with the normal procedures of the House of Commons.
"And it totally negates the point of the amendment, which was to give MPs a say."
Speaking on the BBC's Question Time, Mr Grieve vowed to continue pushing Mrs May for further compromises before Parliament votes again on the bill next week.
He said: “A group of us will talk further to the Government and try to resolve it. We’re going to have to go back and have another go.
“I might be persuaded by the arguments that the Government put to me, because I will listen - but also I hope they will listen to me.
“As a lawyer, and this is a legal argument, I can’t understand this last-minute twist.”
The ex-minister also suggested that the PM had been pressured to take a tougher line than she’d promised the pro-EU rebels.
He added: “I don’t think the Prime Minister was tricking us, but I’m afraid when it came to the end she wasn’t for some reason in a position to deliver to us.”
Fellow pro-EU Tory Sarah Wollaston tweeted: “Ah ha, so just to be clear we are now going to have to amend the ‘unamendable’ after the agreed amendable amendment acquired a sneaky sting in the tail.”
But the amendment has been welcomed by Brexiteers, who were worried when Mrs May agreed to come up with a compromise, that it would hand power over the talks with Brussels to MPs.
So what does this mean and what happens next?
THERESA May had hoped to quell the rebellion over her flagship EU withdrawal bill by offering a compromise to pro-EU MPs today.
They had wanted her to amend the legislation so that Parliament will get a chance to decide the course of action taken by the Government in the negotiations if no agreement with Brussels is forthcoming.
But the version of the document published today does not give that opportunity, instead they will only get to vote on a motion saying the Commons has "considered" the issue.
And it will be unamendable, meaning MPs cannot tell the Prime Minister what to do in the talks with the EU, even if they wanted to.
This has angered the pro-EU rebels, setting up another showdown next week on the bill.
It has been passed back to the House of Lords, which will vote on whether to accept the amendment, and also the original version submitted by rebel leader Dominic Grieve.
Once peers have had their say, the draft legislation will go back to the House of Commons, where MPs will again vote on how they want the “meaningful vote” to be worded.
Mrs May won the vote this week easily after the Remainer Tories agreed to back down over the promise of a compromise.
But now they have failed to accept the new amendment, a number of MPs are set to rebel, setting up a knife-edge vote the PM could lose.
A spokesman for the Brexit department said: “Our new amendment respects the tests set out by the Prime Minister and the Brexit Secretary.
“We have listened to those across the House who called for the ability to express their views, in the unlikely event that our preferred scenario did not come to pass.”
They added: “That is why we have included three situations which would trigger a vote in both Houses: a) should Parliament reject the Government’s deal with the EU, b) that no agreement can be reached, or, c) there is no deal agreed by the 21 January 2019.
“This ensures that in all circumstances Parliament can hold Government to account, while also allowing Government to deliver on the will of the British people as expressed in the referendum.
“But this remains hypothetical and the Government is confident we will agree a good deal with the EU which Parliament will support.”
And the amendment was welcomed by senior Brexit-backer Iain Duncan Smith, who told The Sun: "None of this is perfect, but we can live with it.
"It doesn't stop Brexit and Parliament will get that meaningful vote everyone wants."
Tory MP Nigel Evans congratulated the PM for “making a compromise”.
He said: “This strengthens the PM’s hands in negotiating with Brussels which is good for Britain and bad for anyone wanting to wreck Brexit.”
However Labour have accused the PM of going back on her word, saying the Government’s amendment “takes the meaning out of the meaningful vote”.
Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit Secretary, said: “Parliament cannot - and should not - accept it.”
Earlier Jacob Rees-Mogg said the rebels are trying to use the situation to stop us leaving the EU, and said Mr Grieve’s original amendment would “introduce an unworkable constitutional proposition”.
He said their motives have “nothing to do with parliamentary scrutiny - they are about stopping Brexit”.
The leading Brexiteer said of the “meaningful vote” in the EU bill: “Its aim is not parliamentary sovereignty or oversight but continued vassalage within the European Union.”
Writing in , he added: “Parliamentary scrutiny is a good thing and, as we leave the European Union, the revivification of our democracy will be a boon.
“But the real aim of the Hailsham amendment [on a meaningful vote] is not greater scrutiny, it is a threat to Brexit.”
His article today follows criticism he made of Mr Grieve, who he accused of "supping with the devil" for addressing a private meeting in the European Commission's London base.
The former Attorney General was forced to deny he was involved in an anti-Brexit conspiracy after being seen at the event with former spin doctor Alastair Campbell and other opponents of Britain's EU exit.
Mr Rees-Mogg warned that Mr Grieve should be "careful about the company he keeps" if he wanted to "maintain his position that this is not about stopping Brexit".
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He told the Daily Mail: "He is someone I trust and when he says he is not trying to frustrate Brexit I believe him but the people he is associating with are clear they do want to stop Brexit.
"If you sup with the devil you should use a long spoon and he is using an egg spoon."
Mr Grieve said he disagreed "fundamentally" with Mr Rees-Mogg's claim, and insisted it was "not a meeting to conspire with anybody".