MPs have shown they can force through a law against the government’s wishes. They may need to do so again before Brexit is done and dusted.
This is something many pundits said a few months, even a few weeks ago, was impossible. How could MPs force the prime minister to do something against her will? After all, the government controls the flow of parliamentary business.
And yet last night, Yvette Cooper’s legislation requiring Theresa May to ask the EU to delay Brexit got royal assent. The content of the Act is less important now that the prime minister herself has asked for an extension to the Article 50 negotiating process – although it is possible that the threat of this legislation last week help prod May into writing her letter to Donald Tusk, the European Council president.
What is important is that MPs have proved the concept that they have the whip hand. First, they took control of the order paper for a day by making an exception to the House of Commons standing orders which normally let the government determine what MPs discuss. Then they used the time to push through the necessary legislation – which the House of Lords then amended and approved, also in near record time.
This is not a tool to be used lightly. It is much better if the government follows the wishes of Parliament without being forced to. It is also only a tool that can be used when a majority of MPs have a common purpose.
That said, these are exceptional times. As the Brexit saga continues, it is quite possible that this prime minister will need to be reminded that she is Parliament’s servant, not its master. And hopefully, if that happens, she will realise that it is better to do things the easy way rather than, to use the Biblical expression, to kick against the pricks.