10 Downing Street has insisted that Parliament must be given “a straight up-and-down vote” on the PM’s Brexit deal after MPs delivered a major blow to his strategy on Saturday.
Boris Johnson was forced by law to send a letter asking the EU for a new delay on Brexit but significantly he refused to sign it. The European Commission, which led the negotiations for the EU side, said it is awaiting further word from London. “It will be for the UK government to inform us about the next steps as soon as possible,” the Commission’s chief spokeswoman, Mina Andreeva, said Saturday in a statement after the extension request was sent.
The PM now wants MPs to say a clear “yes” or “no” to the deal on Monday, adding: “We cannot allow Parliament’s letter to lead to Parliament’s delay.” It will be up to Speaker John Bercow to decide whether to allow the vote but suggestions are that he will say no.
The deal ditches the backstop – the “insurance policy” designed to prevent a return to physical checks on the Irish border.
Instead it will, in effect, draw a new customs border in the Irish Sea, because goods which could then travel onwards to Ireland will have to pay a duty tax. This has been met with fury by the DUP who accuse the PM of betraying them and backtracking on a pledge where Johnson declared no PM could ever consider this.
The whole of the UK will leave the EU customs union, meaning it could strike trade deals with other countries in the future. The EU is now considering how to respond to the UK’s request for a delay, but has said Saturday’s developments did not mean that the deal had been rejected.
The UK is due to leave the EU in 10 days time but Nigel Farage has suggested that the only real way out of this mess is for a General Election which would require an extension.
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