Politics

Hammond at helm as former Tories torpedo PM's breakneck Brexit


Philip Hammond led a group of nine Tory independents in torpedoing Boris Johnson’s plans to rush through his Brexit deal in three days, in a sign that they were unconvinced by a promise to give parliament a vote on stopping a crash-out in 2020.

The group of independents, who had the whip withdrawn for voting to block a no-deal Brexit last month, were instrumental in the failure of Johnson’s bid to accelerate his legislation on Tuesday night.

Among the nine were four former cabinet ministers, Hammond, Rory Stewart, Dominic Grieve and Justine Greening, a former deputy chief whip, Anne Milton, and two former junior ministers, Richard Harrington and Guto Bebb.

Their votes against the timetable showed they had not been won round by a last-minute concession by the justice secretary, Robert Buckland.

Just before the vote, Buckland told MPs the bill would allow “parliament to have its say on the merits of an extension period” in 2020 if no free trade agreement was in place by then.

While this convinced David Gauke, the former justice secretary, and several others sceptical of the timetable, it was not enough to prevent another loss for the prime minister.

In talks with Downing Street, Hammond had been pushing for an automatic extension to article 50 if no trade deal were to be in place but No 10 did not promise that, believing it would be unacceptable to hardline Eurosceptics.

One of the nine former Tories, Antoinette Sandbach, told the Guardian: “This is a complex and serious piece of legislation. Whilst I understand the PM’s wish to get the legislation through, it is too complex and difficult to bounce it through in three days.

“I have signed amendments around environmental protections and if there is a ‘democratic event’ I would support a confirmatory referendum amendment. I will continue to vote for the best interests of my constituents, which include a deal on which they should have a say.”

Earlier, Stewart gave an impassioned speech to the Commons saying more time was needed for parliament to examine the bill. “My big beg for this House is let’s please in these very, very final stages do it properly,” he said.

The former development secretary, who plans to run as an independent candidate to be London mayor, said there was “every reason for Brexiteers to be enraged” due to delays to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

But he added: “It’s also really, really important that we think about the other half of the population and we have to think about how to do this legitimately.” He said the withdrawal agreement bill was a “hell of a big document” and two-and-a-half days was not enough time.

Ken Clarke, the father of the House and former chancellor, voted against the timetabling and then urged Johnson to reconsider his decision to “pause” the legislation.

“I can’t quite see the logic of pausing progress on the bill when the whole House is expecting the next two days to be spent on it,” he said.

“It would enable us to see how quickly the House is actually proceeding, what sort of time is being looked for, it may enable then, if people start filibustering, which I hope they won’t, for the government to get a majority for a timetable motion if it came back which was a modest adjustment to the one he had, because I think three or four days more would certainly do it.”

Some Eurosceptics suggested their votes against the bill would kill off any hopes still harboured by the independents of being readmitted to the party. Steve Baker, the leader of the European Research Group, referred to Hammond’s seat in Surrey, saying: “It feels like there will be a candidate selection in Runnymede shortly.”

However, Johnson would be likely to need their votes in order to ultimately get his legislation through parliament, if he takes the decision to proceed with the bill and leave the EU later than 31 October rather than seek an election.

Their main demands are likely to be firmer protections for environmental standards and guarantees that the UK cannot crash out of the EU on World Trade Organization terms at the end of the transition period in 2020. Of the rebels, only Clarke is backing an amendment that would give Johnson a mandate to negotiate a customs union.

To deal with the issue of a 2020 crash-out, Nick Boles, a former Tory who backed the timetable, said he had tabled an amendment that would make a two-year extension to the transition period automatic if there were no trade deal in place by the end of next year.

He said it “would require the government to seek an extension to the transition to December 2022 unless MPs vote to the contrary … essential to stop hardline ERG members forcing through a no-deal Brexit in December 2020”.

Clause 30, among a series of contentious clauses identified in the 115-page bill , which MPs first saw on Monday evening, dictates that only ministers can seek a longer transition period, even though this must then be approved by parliament.

Hilary Benn, the Labour MP who chairs the Brexit select committee, tweeted: “What happens if the government doesn’t propose an extension? Parliament would have no say and we would exit the transition period on 31 December 2020 even if a trade agreement hadn’t been reached by then with the EU; ie no deal.”



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