LONDON, Oct 23 (NN-AGENCIES) —The Commons Speaker has refused a government request to hold a “yes” or “no” vote on its Brexit deal.
John Bercow said a motion on the deal had been brought before MPs on Saturday, and it would be “repetitive and disorderly” to debate it again.
Saturday’s sitting saw MPs vote to withhold approval of Boris Johnson’s deal until it has been passed into law.
The government wanted to hold a “yes” or “no” vote – a so-called “meaningful vote” – on its deal on Saturday, but MPs instead chose to back an amendment tabled by former Tory Sir Oliver Letwin, which said that could not happen until all necessary Brexit legislation was passed.
The government said it was disappointed, but would go ahead with introducing the necessary legislation.
The prime minister’s official spokesman added: “The Speaker has yet again denied us a chance to deliver on the will of British people.”
The UK is due to leave the EU in 10 days, and while Johnson and fellow EU leaders have agreed a new deal to allow that to happen, it cannot come into force until it is approved by both the UK and European parliaments.
The government has presented the law which would implement the Brexit deal to the Commons, and it will begin its parliamentary journey on Tuesday.
That legislation, called the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB), has been introduced and will then have to go through full parliamentary scrutiny in both the Commons and the Lords – something which usually takes weeks rather than days.
The WAB will give legal effect to the withdrawal deal, as well as any agreed transition period, and fulfils requirements on the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit.
It will also allow ministers to make “divorce payments” to the EU foreseen under the current deal.
If the government cannot get the bill through Parliament, the default legal position is for the UK to leave without a deal on Oct 31, but that will change if the EU grants an extension. — NNN-AGENCIES
