‘Gaukeward Squad’ kibosh Boris scheme to suspend Parliament

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Lord Chancellor are among a large posse of Tory MPs to defy a three-line whip. They have scuppered the next prime minister’s undemocratic ruse to close Parliament if necessary to ram through a no-deal Brexit.

Philip Hammond and David Gauke abstained on a key amendment to Northern Ireland legislation today, designed to stop Boris Johnson “proroguing” Parliament. The man universally expected to become prime minister next week has threatened to do that if he can’t get a deal with the EU and can’t persuade MPs to crash out without one.

In total, 30 Tory MPs abstained – though some had permission to be absent. A further 17 voted in favour of the amendment. These include Margot James who resigned as a minister. The amendment passed by 315-274, a much bigger margin than expected.

Hats off to the “Gaukeward Squad”. Sensible Tory MPs are finally discovering the courage of their convictions. When Johnson enters Downing Street, he will face a powerful phalanx. It won’t just be a few brave souls such as Dominic Grieve, who has fought Brexit insanity through thick and thin over the last two years. There will now be a strong and determined group of senior Conservatives prepared to stand up for the national interest.

Stopping the suspension of Parliament is just the first battle. The next will be to stop Johnson crashing out with no deal. That will require further parliamentary manoeuvres in the autumn. It may even be necessary for Tory MPs to vote against their own prime minister in a vote of no confidence.

If Johnson‘s government falls, sensible Tories may need to support some emergency national unity government. Alternatively, there may be an election. In that scenario, the Tory party is likely to move hard right and become effectively the Brexit Party. The Gaukeward Squad may then be expelled from their own party and have to stand as independent Conservatives. Hopefully, the Lib Dems and other pro-Europeans will not stand against them.

All this will take sustained guts and discipline. Today these brave MPs have made an excellent start.

Correction: the reference to 47 MPs defying the three-line whip was changed in the first para. This is because some of the 30 MPs who abstained had permission to do so. A reference was made to this in the third para.