b****cks to bercow
Theresa May to ask for one year Brexit delay after smug Speaker John Bercow torpedoes third vote on EU deal
SPEAKER John Bercow said “b****cks” to the British people by torpedoing Theresa May’s deal and forcing her to ask the EU to delay Brexit for up to a year.
The shock ruling – a year after a row over a “Bollocks to Brexit” car sticker was spotted in his wife’s motor – sparked jubilation from Labour ‘Remainers’ pushing for a referendum.
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Amid scenes of chaos in Parliament, he said a third vote on her Brexit deal could only take place if the offer before MPs was “substantially” different.
He signalled updated legal advice would not be enough.
And arch Brexiteers pushing for ‘No Deal’ said it would give the PM “leverage” with the EU to push for more concessions.
But it triggered uproar from Tory MPs and claims the PM could take the nuclear option of winding up Parliament altogether.
Veteran Tory backbencher Alec Shelbrooke accused the Speaker - a self-confessed Remain voter - of trying to “kill Brexit” altogether.
Tory Chief Whip Julian Smith’s desperate efforts to win round the DUP into backing Mrs May’s Brexit deal had already been on a knife edge before the Speaker’s bombshell intervention.
But senior Government figures revealed that the Ulster unionists took fright at Mr Bercow’s ruling.
And they said there is now “almost no chance” at getting an agreement with the DUP over the line before a crunch EU summit on Thursday.
Instead, No10 sources said the PM was drawing up a letter to EU Council president Donald Tusk to make a formal request for the long delay, instructed by Parliament last week if her deal still hadn’t been passed by the Commons.
But the PM will also ask Brussels for an escape clause to the delay - expected to be between nine and 12 months.
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It 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
Government source
If the Commons does pass her deal in the coming weeks then the UK can then leave swiftly afterwards and not see out the full Article 50 extension.
The date of the next elections to the European Parliament, May 23, is seen by No10 as a crucial milepost.
If Mrs May’s Brexit deal isn’t passed by that time, then Britain will have to elect MEPs for a full five years, and Remainers in Parliament will be able to keep enforcing extensions to the Brexit delay right up until 2024.
A Government source said: “It seems clear that the Speaker’s motive here is to rule out a Meaningful Vote this week, which also stands in the way of securing a shorter extension.
“It 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.
“But anyone who thinks that this makes no deal more likely is mistaken — the Speaker wouldn’t have done it if it did.”
The Speaker cited convention dating back to 1604 as he defended his bombshell move – in an unexpected statement to stunned MPs at 3.30pm.
Amid a tense silence, the Speaker said that aware of rumours of the PM’s deal could come back a third time he wanted to let the House know his thoughts.
And he said that the Government could not in his view bring forward a deal that “is neither the same nor substantially the same” as the one crushed by 149 votes last week.
BID TO 'KILL BREXIT'
He insisted the convention dated back to the 15th century and had been confirmed again many times – including 1864, 1870, 1882, 1891 and 1912.
But he was immediately accused of rank hypocrisy given that he had torn up the rule book just two months ago when allowing Tory ‘Remainer’
Dominic Grieve to amend a Government motion on Brexit.
At the time, the Speaker said: “I am not in the business of invoking precedent.”
Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke stormed: “The Speaker has just tried to kill Brexit.
“He knows without Meaningful Vote again Article 50 will be extended as per the vote in the House on Thursday.”
FOR FAWKES SAKE
JOHN Bercow used a rule dating back to 1604 — the year before Parliament was nearly blown up in Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder Plot — to stop Theresa May’s deal being put to a third vote.
The little known precedent — used just 12 times, the last in 1920 — bans the Government from asking MPs to vote on the same motion more than once in a parliamentary session.
It was drawn up after King James interfered in the Sheriff of Buckinghamshire’s election — by demanding a second vote, so his candidate could be elected.
Neil O’Brien, a Tory MP and former aide to the PM, told The Sun: “The Commons wants to decide how to honour the referendum result.
“If one of the main options is taken off the table by one man deciding for himself, then my constituents will be absolutely furious.”
Prisons Minister Rory Stewart appeared to compare the Speaker to Humpty Dumpty.
In a tweet he said: “He tweeted: “When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “It means just what I chose it to mean.”
Tories immediately demanded whether the Speaker would also rule out ‘repeat’ Brexit amendments – such as calls for a People’s Vote or the ‘Cooper-Boles’ push for Parliament to take control of Brexit.
The Speaker said he would take a judgement on each at the time.
He insisted he allowed Theresa May’s second stab at a Meaningful Vote last week as there had been meaningful change to the proposed deal in the form of new ‘legally binding’ agreement with the EU.
And he signalled that “in all likelihood” such a change would again be needed – setting a high threshold for the PM to reach.
Amid furious exchanges he further incensed the Government by appearing to mock Commons leader Andrea Leadsom by snarling at her for using her phone during the debate.
The one-time Tory leadership contender hit back by accusing him of failing to show “courtesy and respect”.
While dismaying No.10, Mr Bercow’s verdict was met with jubilation by hardline Brexiteers bitterly opposed to the PM’s deal – and keen to push for a ‘No Deal’ exit on March 29.
One source said a group of Eurosceptic Tories were whistling the theme tune to ‘The Great Escape’ in the Westminster tea room.
Veteran Bill Cash stood up and praised the Speaker – saying the decision “seems to make an enormous amount of sense”.
Meanwhile ‘Remainers’ in Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP pushing for a People’s Vote lavished praise on the Speaker.
SNP’s Pete Wishart tweeted: “Devastating.”
Labour’s Chris Bryant – one of a number who called on the Speaker to rule on a third vote last week – said the intervention meant the Government had to stop “faffing about”.
We can’t keep on going round and round in ever decreasing circles. If she really has a new plane we can look at it. But if it’s a re-hash of last week’s leftovers she has to forget it.
Chris Bryant, Labour MP
He said: “We can’t keep on going round and round in ever decreasing circles. If she really has a new plane we can look at it.
“But if it’s a re-hash of last week’s leftovers she has to forget it.”
Constitutional experts said the PM could now take the nuclear option of winding up Parliament altogether – a process known as “prorogation”.
It could ‘re-start’ with the Queen’s backing and put the Meaningful Vote back before the Commons with a clean slate.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland admitted the Government would find a way around his order and press on with another Meaningful Vote on Mrs
May’s deal anyway, even if it meant closing down Parliament for a day and beginning a brand new session.
Mr Buckland said: “We are in a major constitutional crisis here that we want to try and solve for the country.
“I simply ask the question, what can Parliament do to end the uncertainty?”
The senior law officer added: “There are ways around this - a prorogation of Parliament and a new session. We are talking about hours to March 29. Frankly we could have done without this.
“Now we have this ruling to deal with, it is clearly going to require a lot of very fast but very deep thought in the hours ahead.”
Academics also said the Speaker had got his ruling wrong.
Emminent lawyer Sir Stephen Laws QC, a senior fellow at the Policy Exchange think-tank, added: “If there is a majority for the deal, preventing the vote would be to frustrate the will of the House.
"It would be deeply concerning to see a Speaker act in such a way."
MOST READ IN BREXIT
But independent MP Frank Field said he believed odds of Government taking the nuclear option were tumbling by the minute.
“I think it means we’ll be entering the next session of Parliament rather quickly. They can bring this Parliament to a close and start a new session with a Queen’s Speech after Easter.
“The Speaker can’t stop the Government doing that … yet!”
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Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage on rainy Brexit Betrayal March
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