Prime Minister Theresa May’s grip on the progression on Brexit is once again put into question after she was forced to postpone the introduction of the EU withdrawal bill after MPs, including from her own Conservative Party, demanded 300 amendments.
The timetable of the bill, which was tabled for discussion next week for eight days of debate in the House of Commons, has been pushed back after pro-EU MPs demanded 70 pages of amendments and clauses be considered beforehand, reports the Financial Times.
Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom said on Thursday that “some 300 amendments and 54 new clauses have been proposed” by MPs who had “concerns about the bill”.
“That is taking a bit of time so that we give proper, thoughtful, well-considered responses to [those proposals],” Ms. Leadsom said. “We will, of course, be bringing forward the committee of the whole House just as soon as we are able to do so.”
Working with Labour and anti-Brexit MPs from other parties, including up to seven Tory Party rebels, Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer attacked the government’s repeal bill, saying it was not “fit for purpose” and would put “vital rights and protections at risk”, calling for the bill to be changed.
Should May, whose Conservatives have only a working majority of 13 in the Commons, suffer a defeat at the hands of Labour and Tory rebels, her leadership would once again be called into question.
This setback comes amidst calls for the prime minister to fire Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond, who has been accused of “sabotaging” Brexit following accusations Hammond is unwilling to prepare adequately for a no-deal outcome.
May’s appeasements made to the European Union (EU) in Florence last month, over the transition period tying the UK to the bloc until 2021, the primacy of the European Court of Human Rights over British law, and an unspecified ‘divorce bill’ creeping up by the tens of billions to a current speculated 45 billion euros, has not been reciprocated with concessions by European leaders, but appears to have hardened the resolve of Eurocrats to frustrate Brexit.
On Thursday, EU head Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said he is still not willing to move along talks, saying the situation was a “deadlock” – increasing chances of a ‘no deal’.
On Friday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker demanded that the UK “has to pay” what he believes the nation owes to the bloc, saying “that’s the reason why this process will take longer than initially thought.”
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