British MPs expect more of a say in Brexit process

After condemning Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed Brexit withdrawal deal to the trash can on Tuesday night in the latest humiliating defeat for the British leader, members of Parliament now expect to take control of negotiations with the European Union.

May’s proposed deal, which she had worked out with EU leaders over many months of negotiations, was defeated for the first time in January – by a whopping 230 votes. And it was rejected again this week – by 149 votes – despite tweaks that she hoped would appease Parliament, especially on the contentious issue of how to avoid a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said after the crushing defeat that the risk of a no-deal Brexit had “never been higher” and insisted that the EU had gone “as far as it possibly can”.

He said the deal May had put before British MPs “will remain the only available treaty”.

But British MPs clearly want other options and were set on Wednesday evening to decide first whether to leave the EU without a deal on March 29 before considering on Thursday whether to appeal to the EU for an extension to allow more time for talks to take place. A third option, of remaining an EU member, is also a possibility.

An apparently exacerbated Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, has already warned that the EU will need a credible reason before it grants an extension to the March 29 exit date, something that would also need approval from all 27 remaining EU member nations.

Ahead of Wednesday evening’s vote on whether to take a no-deal Brexit off the table, May said she would honor an earlier promise to allow Conservative Party MPs to vote according to their consciences and that she would not be issuing party orders.

“I stand by those commitments in full,” a defiant May said following Tuesday’s defeat and after resisting any immediate pressure to resign.

The Financial Times said it expects Thursday’s vote on whether to ask for an extension to the March 29 exit date to see MPs call for it to be pushed back by “two to three months”. If so, May will likely get to ask the EU for that extension at a summit of EU leaders on March 21.

If the extension is asked for and granted, MPs are then likely to take more control of negotiations with the EU.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey told BBC News that Parliament will increasingly look to “set the agenda”.

And former Labour Party minister Yvette Cooper, told the Financial Times: “We have to use an extension to make decisions about what kind of Brexit we should have and to work out how we build consensus on the way forward.”

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, has said he wants the UK to remain a permanent member of the EU customs union, which makes that one likely way forward. And there could be a cross-party consensus for the UK to negotiate a so-called Norway-plus type of arrangement, in which Britain remains a member of both the EU’s single market and its customs union.

If no clear way ahead emerges, there will likely then be amplified calls for a second referendum, which could lead to the UK remaining a member of the EU.

ITV News noted, however, that, while British MPs now expect to take more control of the process, they will not have as much input as the EU, which will decide whether to grant an extension, and for how long.