MPs to see Brexit plan before article 50
Members of Parliament have passed a Labour motion that the government will reveal its Brexit negotiation plan before triggering article 50 – but in return Labour is agreeing to accept the intention to trigger it by the end of March.
The development is being seen – depending on different viewpoints – as either a climb-down by the government, or a capitulation by Labour, which had formerly opposed Brexit.
It comes as the ‘article 50’ case in the Supreme Court entered its third day and Brexit Minister David Davis stated that the government will respect the decision of the court, due in January.
Mr Davis told MPs today the government is now waiting for the ruling to “get precisely right what it is [the House of Commons] has to do”.
Government ministers have today accepted a Labour motion which calls for the Prime Minister to ‘publish the government’s plan for leaving the EU before article 50 is published’. However the government has tacked on wording that MPs should ‘respect’ the referendum vote and call on the government to trigger article 50 by March 31, 2017.
It is not however known how detailed the ‘plan’ would be and the wording says that the government need not reveal anything which might damage its negotiations.
The SNP are not agreeing, saying this “fails to respect the vote across all four parts of the UK” and will “see the UK put through a hard-right Tory plan to take us out of the EU that will damage jobs, livelihoods, businesses and the economy”.
The Liberal Democrats are also opposed, saying the motion includes no “meaningful commitment” to set out the government’s position on “such fundamental questions as to whether it wants Britain to remain in the Single Market”.
The debate was ongoing as the third day of the article 50 case saw a lawyer for the Northern Ireland Assembly argue triggering Brexit could affect the devolution settlement, while a lawyer for the Scottish Parliament argued it must be consulted because exiting the EU would involve ‘significant change’ for the Scottish government and parliament.
Also taking to the floor was the lawyer for the second claimant in the case, hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, who said June’s referendum was merely advisory and had no legal effect.
This comes as a man has been arrested for alleged online threats towards Gina Miller, the main claimant in the case.
