Brexit news latest – Theresa May fights Remainer rebels as EU departure set to be delayed up to nine months
A rebel amendment which could see Brexit postponed will be voted on next Tuesday
REBEL MPs are on course to delay Brexit by as much as nine months as support grows for a wrecking motion in the Commons.
No10 has concluded that ministers are unable to block an amendment tabled by Yvette Cooper which takes No Deal off the table.
But they are fighting back by supporting a last-ditch bid to fix the hated Irish backstop.
Today Theresa May is hosting union bosses in Downing Street and asking them to help her get her Brexit deal over the line.
It comes before Tuesday's crunch vote where MPs will get a chance to vote on the way forward.
A bumper 14 motions have been tabled by MPs keen to secure their favoured outcome.
The most likely to succeed was tabled by Labour's Ms Cooper and Tory Nick Boles.
It says that if Britain is on course for a No Deal Brexit, Article 50 - the legal mechanism taking us out of the EU - should be suspended for as long as nine months.
Labour are very likely to back the measure - although the delay could be cut to three months.
A No10 source : "It’s massively unhelpful. We’d have a week to try to persuade the Commons not to back the bill or Brexit would be delayed and the pressure would come off the EU."
MAY FIGHTS BACK
The pound soared yesterday on rising hopes that Brexit will end up being postponed.
Senior Downing Street officials are currently trying to work out a way to ignore the amendment if it does pass.
No10 is expected to back an alternative amendment, tabled by Tory Brexiteer Andrew Murrison, which deals with the Irish backstop.
Brexit-supporting MPs want to impose a time limit on the backstop to avoid Britain being trapped in the EU customs union indefinitely.
The Murrison motion is supported by Tory grandees from all sides of the Brexit spectrum, including Sir Nicholas Soames, Sir Graham Brady and Damian Green.
A source close to Mrs May said she wants to see MPs vote for it next week.
That would give her the ammunition she needs to return to Brussels and request a legally binding change to the backstop.
Irish claim hated backstop will be forced on UK even if we quit with No Deal
IRELAND will try and force Britain to accept the backstop even if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, it emerged today.
PM Leo Varadkar said: "In order to honour our commitment to the people of Ireland that there be no hard border, we would have to agree on full alignment on customs and regulations."
And his deputy Simon Coveney claimed keeping the UK in the customs union is the only way to uphold the Good Friday Agreement.
He wrote in the Irish Times: "We will continue to require solutions to avoid a hard border that are rooted in regulatory alignment and legal certainty and not just wishful thinking."
The backstop - intended to keep the Irish border open - has been roundly rejected by Brexiteers.
And the UK Government is adamant that it can only be acceptable if it's time limited.
Irish police have reportedly drawn up plans to send 600 police to the border in case of a No Deal outcome.
This week the EU admitted for the first time that it will enforce a hard border on Ireland if Britain leaves without a deal.
Matt Hancock said today: "The thing is that Parliament needs to come together and approve a deal to stop No Deal Brexit, and so far that hasn't happened."
The EU's Brexit envoy Michel Barnier warned that a delay wouldn't be enough to ensure that both sides can reach a deal.
He said: "I personally believe that we do not need so much more time, but that we now need to make decisions."
Today the PM has been hosting trade union chiefs at No10 in a bid to get more support for her deal.
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But Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said after her meeting: "The Prime Minister hasn't given us the guarantees we need on jobs or workers' rights.
"Even after a catastrophic defeat, her red lines haven't shifted, and the threat of No Deal hasn't even been taken off the table."
Dave Prentis of Unison added: "It is in everyone's interest to extend Article 50 until at least the summer. We want Theresa May to move away from appeasing the right wing of the Tory party."
Brexit chaos: What do MPs want to do?
NEXT Tuesday, the Commons will debate Theresa May's Plan B for Brexit - which is identical to her Plan A.
Although the debate will be on a so-called "neutral motion", stating only that the Commons has considered her statement, MPs will have the power to table amendments dictating what should happen next.
Speaker John Bercow - known for his pro-EU sympathies - will choose which ones MPs can vote on.
COOPER - NINE-MONTH DELAY
Yvette Cooper is tabling a bill to stop Britain leaving the EU without a deal on March 29.
She proposes that if there isn't a deal by February 26, MPs could delay Article 50 for nine months - giving ministers until the end of the 2019 to secure a withdrawal agreement.
The bill is a standalone law, but an amendment to the PM's statement would see it catapulted to the top of the Commons agenda.
Jeremy Corbyn is likely to support the move, which would give it a good chance of passing.
GRIEVE - WRECKING BREXIT
Dominic Grieve has proposed an amendment which would effectively transfer power from the Government to the Commons.
Under the terms of his proposal, MPs would get the power to decide which bills are debated in Parliament, a privilege usually held by ministers.
The amendment would tear up centuries of precedent by limiting the Government's ability to govern and so is unlikely to succeed.
MURRISON - PM'S LIFELINE
Tory Brexiteer Andrew Murrison has an amendment which could help the PM make her case in Brussels.
It takes the form of a demand for a time limit on the hated "Irish backstop" plan, to stop Britain being trapped in the EU customs union permanently.
If Conservative backbenchers support it, Mrs May could then use that as proof that all she needs to get the deal through Parliament is a tweak to the backstop - putting the ball in Brussels' court.
CORBYN - MORE FUDGE
Last night Jeremy Corbyn and his frontbench allies tabled an amendment laying out Labour's policy.
The non-binding motion would see Britain seek to reopen the withdrawal agreement - something the EU insists is impossible.
It also suggests that the Government should allow MPs to vote on whether or not to back a second referendum.
BENN - NONSTOP VOTES
Senior backbencher Hilary Benn wants ministers to stage a series of "indicative votes" on what to do next.
That would allow MPs to have their say on their preferred outcome - from No Deal to a second referendum.
CREASY - CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY
An amendment from Labour Remainer Stella Creasy is a bid to secure a "citizen's assembly" on Brexit.
It would force the Government to delay Article 50, then convene an assembly of 250 representative voters to discuss the way forward.
REEVES - STOP THE CLOCK
Labour's Rachel Reeves has drawn up an amendment which would simply delay Brexit if Britain is heading towards a No Deal.
It's a simplified version of the bill tabled by Yvette Cooper.
SPELMAN/DROMEY - NO DEAL? NO WAY
Tory ex-minister Caroline Spelman and Labour's Jack Dromey want the Government to rule out No Deal.
Their amendment would state that the Commons "rejects the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement and a framework for the future relationship".
LIB DEMS - CANCEL BREXIT
Vince Cable and his Lib Dem allies have put down a motion to force a second referendum on Brexit.
The amendment says the Government should "prepare for a People’s Vote in which the public will have the option to remain in the European Union".
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