Government makes surprise 'climbdown' on Brexit scrutiny
Theresa May offers to accept more scrutiny of Brexit plans in a bid to stop Tory rebels backing a Labour motion.
Wednesday 12 October 2016 10:49, UK
The Government has tabled a surprise amendment to prevent rebellious Conservative MPs voting with the Opposition for extra Parliamentary scrutiny on the Brexit process.
In a move described by Opposition sources as a "huge climbdown", the Government tried to persuade several Tory MPs to refuse to back Labour's Opposition Day motion, which called for Parliament to be able to scrutinise a plan before Article 50 is triggered.
A number of Tory MPs - including some backers of the Leave campaign - are deeply concerned about Theresa May's announcement that Article 50 will be triggered by the end of March and, in particular, the clear signal that Britain is leaving the single market.
Since the Conservative Party Conference, the pound has fallen by 6%, and some City firms have accelerated plans to pull jobs out of London.
On Tuesday evening the Government offered an amendment in the name of the PM to accept extra scrutiny as long as it "does not undermine the negotiating position of the Government".
This suggests that Government whips fear losing an MPs' vote on having an MPs' vote about the Article 50 plan, and that the PM does not want to see Conservatives rebel against her so early in her premiership.
It also increases the chances of some sort of Green paper or negotiating strategy having to be presented to the House of Commons.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, said the move marked a "victory for us".
"Our view is the Tories don't have a mandate to go into a locked room and fight it out amongst themselves and decide to do whatever they think is best," she told Sky News' All Out Politics.
She added: "The British people have spoken, they want us to leave. We're not going to get in the way of that.
"But what we want is, when we do leave, for that negotiating strategy to be one which is in the interest of Britain, and for Theresa May to be able to go to Europe and say, 'I not only speak on behalf of the Tory Party, I speak on behalf of Parliament and the British people.'"
A Number 10 source said: "The Government is focused on delivering on Brexit. We have always been clear that Parliament has an important role to play, and this motion reflects that."
Neil Carmichael, a Tory MP and chair of the Conservative Group for Europe, said: "(The Government's amendment) is a step in the right direction.
"Our group would support the Opposition Day motion with the amendment.
"Wednesday's debate will be an interesting one."
A number of Conservative MPs are expected to criticise the lack of scrutiny on the Government's Brexit approach.
Labour also challenged the Government to answer 170 questions on the detail of its Brexit plan - one for every day before the end-of-March deadline for triggering Article 50.
Ms Thornberry and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said a failure to respond would reinforce the impression that ministers were "blundering" into negotiations with the EU with a "flawed Plan A" and "no Plan B whatsoever".
This week, a court case begins which seeks to force the Government to hold a vote in Parliament before triggering Article 50.