The government is trying to fiddle parliamentary procedure to stop MPs from replacing May’s bad Brexit deal with an alternative. This is political chicanery all too typical of the whole squalid Brexit process – a reminder of the fancy franchise, dodgy question and corrupt practices of the 2016 referendum.
From the beginning of Brexit, ministers have tried to sideline Parliament. The Gina Miller court case was only necessary because, outrageously, the prime minister claimed that Parliament did not need to consent to the UK issuing its withdrawal notice to the EU. The Brexiters then labelled the judges who forced the government to concede as “enemies of the people”.
Now ministers are at it again. Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has proposed to the House of Commons procedure committee (seven out of eight of whose Tory members apparently voted Leave in 2016) a cunning way to prevent MPs from debating the alternatives to May’s Brexit deal. This is all about the hard fought for “meaningful vote” that was only written into law after a Conservative rebellion last December.
As Dominic Grieve, the author of that provision in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018, pointed out to the committee yesterday, at the time of the debates on his clause ministers promised that any motion would be amendable. Raab’s proposals mean that amendments to the motion approving May’s agreement with the EU would not be voted on until after Parliament has decided whether or not to accept the deal – a reversal of the usual procedure.
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It would be pointless to vote on amendments after the Commons has either accepted or rejected the deal. If parliament wanted, for example, the UK to stay in the European Economic Area – a position supported by a number of backbench MPs – that would be impossible if it had already approved the deal.
This is precisely the sort of machiavellian behaviour that undermines trust in politics and politicians. It is also a huge mistake in political terms as it is all too obvious what ministers are up to – trying to silence those who have a different view. And as Grieve said yesterday, the government’s approach to the vote on the deal is more likely to ensure that it is defeated.
The culture of the Brexiters is that the ends justify the means: that any action that ensures Brexit is justified, no matter the price in terms of law, decency or democratic principles. This latest example of political chicanery over the voting procedure is of a piece with their dishonest campaign in 2016, their breaches of electoral law and their willingness to use race to win the referendum. Because they can’t win the argument for ripping the UK out of the EU, they resort to trickery and subterfuge to get their way.
It is time for MPs to stand up to their bullying, reject Raab’s procedural device and insist that there is a proper opportunity for the Commons to express its view about the most important decision this country has taken since the war.
