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Brexit: Theresa May to hold a series of MPs' votes on options | Brexit: Theresa May to hold a series of MPs' votes on options |
(35 minutes later) | |
Theresa May is planning to hold a series of votes in Parliament to find out what kind of Brexit MPs will support, sources have told the BBC. | Theresa May is planning to hold a series of votes in Parliament to find out what kind of Brexit MPs will support, sources have told the BBC. |
The prime minister was previously thought to be against this idea. | The prime minister was previously thought to be against this idea. |
But sources say she wants the votes planned for the third week of January based on her Brexit deal to be a "moment of reckoning". | |
It comes as the cabinet announced it was stepping up preparations in case there is a no-deal Brexit on 29 March. | It comes as the cabinet announced it was stepping up preparations in case there is a no-deal Brexit on 29 March. |
The Brexit deal Theresa May has reached with the EU has to be passed by Parliament but most MPs - including many on her own side - are against it. | |
She had been planning to present Parliament with a choice between her deal and no-deal, hoping that enough MPs would swallow their objections and get behind her version of Brexit. | |
But MPs are showing few signs of changing their minds - with some hoping that the next step after her deal being rejected would be leaving without a deal, others hoping for a fresh referendum and some backing alternative deals like the ones Norway or Canada have with the EU. | |
So rather than wait for what seems like an inevitable defeat, she is thought to be planning a new approach. | |
The prime minister does not believe any of the factions criticising her plan have enough support to get their own version of Brexit through Parliament. | |
By allowing them to put forward their proposals and vote on them, she is hoping they will be defeated and her plan will emerge by a process of elimination as the best and only alternative to leaving without a deal. | |
The danger for Mrs May, says the BBC's deputy political editor John Pienaar, is that none of the alternatives, including her own, can command a majority. | |
Several cabinet ministers have publicly suggested alternative next steps if Mrs May's plan is rejected. | |
Some, including Amber Rudd, favour a Norway-style relationship, retaining close links to the EU. | Some, including Amber Rudd, favour a Norway-style relationship, retaining close links to the EU. |
Others, notably Penny Mordaunt and Andrea Leadsom, support what they describe as a "managed no deal", with time to transition to World Trade Organization rules. | Others, notably Penny Mordaunt and Andrea Leadsom, support what they describe as a "managed no deal", with time to transition to World Trade Organization rules. |
Education Secretary, Damian Hinds was among those at the two and a half hour cabinet meeting on Tuesday calling for a "flushing out" of opinion in a series of exploratory votes in the Commons. | Education Secretary, Damian Hinds was among those at the two and a half hour cabinet meeting on Tuesday calling for a "flushing out" of opinion in a series of exploratory votes in the Commons. |
The prime minister was thought to be opposed to the idea. | The prime minister was thought to be opposed to the idea. |
But John Pienaar said he understood that Mrs May now wishes to accelerate and compress the process, so that various options are presented in amendments to her motion - which seeks to approve her deal - and voted upon at the same time. | |
Mrs May was originally planning to put her plan to a Commons vote two weeks ago but pulled it at the last minute over fears it would be defeated, sparking widespread outrage among MPs. | |
"Last time, for one reason or another, people only set out what they opposed. Next time could be an opportunity for people to set down what they support - and vote on it," a senior source close to Mrs May said. | "Last time, for one reason or another, people only set out what they opposed. Next time could be an opportunity for people to set down what they support - and vote on it," a senior source close to Mrs May said. |
Downing Street is also hoping to get more reassurances from Brussels that any outcome that keeps the UK tied to EU rules - as part of measures to ensure there is no return to a physical Northern Ireland border, will be temporary. | Downing Street is also hoping to get more reassurances from Brussels that any outcome that keeps the UK tied to EU rules - as part of measures to ensure there is no return to a physical Northern Ireland border, will be temporary. |