Politics

May's fresh Brexit bill effort faltering as David Davis now set to vote against – live news


Yesterday, in an article for the Sunday Times (paywall), Theresa May said that when MPs vote on the EU withdrawal agreement bill in the first week of June, it would involve a “new, bold offer” with “an improved package of measures” that she hoped would win over some of those MPs who voted against her Brexit deal on the previous three occasions. In interviews this morning, Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said that if MPs wanted Brexit to happen, they should vote for the bill at second reading; if they wanted to change the terms of Brexit, they could amend it later, he argued.

But this morning the Daily Telegraph reports (paywall) that it has seen a summary of the bill sent to cabinet ministers last week and that it confirms that all the supposedly new concessions are ones that have been offered already.


A five-page summary of the bill sent to cabinet ministers last week contained no ideas on how to bridge the gap between the Tories and Labour on a possible customs union with the EU, and no fresh thinking on the Northern Irish backstop, which is designed to prevent a hard border in Ireland if no trade deal is agreed.

Instead, it promises to incorporate an idea first proposed by the Tory MP Sir Hugo Swire in January that would give parliament the final say on implementing the backstop, as well as an obligation for the government to “seek” alternative arrangements to the backstop by the end of 2020.

It would also incorporate an amendment first proposed to the third “meaningful vote” in March by the Labour MPs Lisa Nandy and Gareth Snell, which would give parliament a say in what the objectives of future trade negotiations should be.

In an attempt to appease the DUP, on whose votes Mrs May relies for her working majority, the document also says the Northern Ireland assembly – which has been suspended for the past two years – will be given a “role” in any decision over the backstop.

Sir Bill Cash, the Brexiteer Tory MP who has consistently voted against Mrs May’s deal, said: “This is pretty cosmetic stuff. It will not have any effect on leave-supporting MPs and in fact there are votes coming back to our side from people who backed the deal last time.”

Ominously for May, there are signs that the majority against her deal in June could be even bigger than the 58-vote majority against it in the last vote, in March. David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, supported her last time, and in an interview for the BBC’s Week in Westminster on Saturday he said he had not decided what he would do next time. But now he has, and he is voting against. Asked if he would vote for the bill, he told the Today programme this morning:


No. The reason I voted for the last two variants of it is that it had been modified a bit, but what was clear was if we didn’t get that through, there would be a chaotic consequential outcome. And that is what we are seeing now, this chaos.

And the trouble is – Matt [Hancock] was doing a good job of defending the line this morning. But this is not a great new offer; it’s a great new concession. What it will do, and this is the critical thing, is, if we pass that act, it opens things up so that the successor to the prime minister, the next prime minister, will have their hands tied. And I think the next prime minister must have the right to reset the negotiations on their terms.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, holds a walkabout in Exeter. Later he is holding campaign events in Newcastle, Halifax and Horwich.

11am: Downing Street lobby briefing.

11am: Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, speaks at a Labour rally for the European elections in Glasgow.

1pm: Esther McVey, a candidate for the Conservative leadership, launches a Blue Collar Conservatism campaign.

1.45pm: Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, and Molly Scott Cato, the Green MEP candidate, hold a rally in Bristol.

2.30pm: Penny Mordaunt, the defence secretary, takes questions in the Commons for the fist time.

4pm: David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, gives evidence to the public administration and constitutional affairs committee about the role of parliament in authorising the use of military force.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

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