UK MPs could get Brexit vote as soon as next week - Hammond
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Thursday 21 Feb 2019
(Sharecast News) - MPs could be given a vote on a revised Brexit deal as soon as next week, Chancellor Philip Hammond said on Thursday as European Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker said he was pessimistic about reaching agreement.
Hammond told the BBC another "meaningful vote" could take place before the end of February if progress is made in talks with the EU this week.
Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to give MPs some form of Brexit vote by February 27. Downing Street believes this could happen if ongoing talks with Brussels make progress.
"There may be an opportunity to bring a vote back to the House of Commons but that will depend on progress that is made over the next few days. These discussions are ongoing," said.
"If we do not have a meaningful vote next week there will be another amendable motion tabled which will allow the House of Commons to once again debate how it wants to go forward."
"We have got frankly a problem in the House of Commons. The House of Commons knows what it is against - it is absolutely against a no-deal exit but it has struggled to come up with a clear message to the government about what it, as a House of Commons, wants as a way forward to avoid that outcome."
However, in Brussels, Juncker said he could no rule out the prospect of a no-deal Brexit while chief negotiator Michel Barnier appeared to be frustrated at what he claimed, again, what was a lack of clarity from May.
"If a no-deal would happen - and I can't exclude this - this would have terrible economic and social consequences, both in Britain and on the continent, and so my efforts orient in a way that the worst can be avoided," Juncker told the European Economic and Social Committee.
"But I am not very optimistic when it comes to this issue."
"We are trying to deliver our best efforts in order to have this Brexit being organised in a proper, civilised, well-thought-out way. But we are not there, because in the British parliament there is, every time they are voting, a majority against something, there is never a majority in favour of something."
BARNIER'S FRUSTRATIONS
Barnier held talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Thursday, and expressed exasperation with the British position.
"We don't need more time, we need decisions from the British parliament. If this question was raised, the first reaction of the heads of state - whose unanimous approval is required - would be to say 'What for? How much time?" he said.
He suggested the EU would be ready to make changes to the political declaration on the future UK/EU relationship if London wanted to make it "more ambitious", for instance by proposing a permanent customs union - something Corbyn has demanded of May to no avail.
There was "no doubt" that the EU27 would maintain their solidarity with the Ireland on the border issue, he added.
Corbyn said after the talks with Barnier that the prime minister was "running down the clock" to force MPs into accepting her deal.
"We put forward what we believe to be a credible process which would be to negotiate a customs union with the EU and alignment to ensure market access", he said.
"We are strongly of the belief that these proposals are credible. That has been confirmed by our meetings today. The problem is the prime minister is insisting on her deal which has already been defeated very heavily in Parliament and running down the clock by trying to keep the threat of no deal on the table with all the damage that does."
May and Juncker held talks in Brussels on Wednesday night and Hammond said the two sides were talking about giving some guarantees that the Irish border backstop could only be a "temporary arrangement".
"That is a word that hasn't been used before and I think that is significant," he said. "Both sides have acknowledged that the political declaration could be expanded, for example, to address concerns that have been expressed in some parts of the House of Commons about workers' rights."
In a joint statement May and Juncker said they "reconfirmed their commitment to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland and to respect the integrity of the EU's internal market and of the United Kingdom".
"The two leaders agreed that talks had been constructive, and they urged their respective teams to continue to explore the options in a positive spirit. They will review progress again in the coming days, seized of the tight timescale and the historic significance of setting the EU and the UK on a path to a deep and unique future partnership."
Brexit Minister Steve Barclay will be back in Brussels on Thursday, along with the Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox.
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN