David Davis has promised that British MPs and peers will be able to scrutinise, amend and vote on the final Brexit agreement through primary legislation in a concession to pro-EU Conservative backbenchers.Although this did not come as a complete surprise - Number 10 hinted it was planning this move two weeks ago, and ministers were under pressure to concede because otherwise they were facing a likely defeat on this matter during the EU withdrawal bill’s committee stage - it nevertheless amounts to a potentially significant announcement. Pro-Brexit MPs did not seem especially happy about what Davis had to say, and the Labour party said it was a “significant climbdown”. (See 4.56pm.) In theory this means that the House of Commons, which probably contains a decisive “soft Brexit majority”, could start rewriting the Brexit transition and withdrawal deal if, as planned, it is agreed next autumn. But in the Commons Davis admitted that his promise to implement the withdrawal deal through an act of parliament would only take effect if a deal actually gets agreed. If there is no deal, there won’t be a bill. And, as Davis admitted in the Commons, even if the Commons does vote to change the withdrawal deal, there is no guarantee that Brussels will agree to its proposals. When Labour’s Clive Efford asked Davis what would happen if the Commons amends the legislation to demand a different sort of withdrawal, Davis replied:
If he House does that [votes to change the bill], that will be taken I guess by the government as an instruction to go back and speak for them [to Brussels]. Whether that will deliver any outcome, I don’t know.
In private government sources are even blunter, suggesting that there is very little chance of amendments to the bill passed by the Commons leading to the EU agreeing to change the terms of a Brexit deal already negotiated by the government.
The Irish government had said the Democratic Unionist Party will not decide the future of Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations.
Foreign minister Simon Coveney told reporters in Brussels on Monday that its future is far too important to be left to any one party.
“We respect the views of the DUP, but we respect the views of other parties in Northern Ireland. No one party should have the only say,” he said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
That is not how a decision as fundamental and as important to Ireland’s future and Britain’s future should be made.
I don’t accept that the options should be limited on the basis of the political arithmetic in the House of Commons.
Illuminating the potential for the Irish question to turn into a Brexit roadblock, Coveney said that those who thought the Irish border question could simply be pushed into the second phase of Brexit talks were mistaken.
“Some people hoped that Ireland and the EU task force would simply allow this issue to drift into phase two in the hope that it would be resolved through some form of trade agreement or trade partnership agreement in the future,” he said. He added that this was “not a viable proposal”.
The EU has indicated that short of a fresh solution from the British government, it sees the best way to achieve an invisible border in Ireland was for Northern Ireland to stay in the Customs Union and the single market, something the DUP has said it will oppose.
This was seen in some quarters as a bid by the EU give Northern Ireland “Hong Kong style” autonomy.
Brexit secretary David Davis rejected this on Friday saying the government would not accept anything that would undermine the constitutional integrity of Northern Ireland.
Coveney said he did not believe reports at the weekend that British officials were “horrified” by this proposal. He said:
Anybody whose been following this process knows that Ireland has been consistent and stubborn and strong on the border issue because it’s so important to the functioning of the island of Ireland; linked to a peace process, linked to normal commerce, and the movement of goods, services, livestock, people.
Dominic Grieve expressed concern that ministers were making a verbal promise alone for a Brexit deal bill - and he said the policy needed to be written into the EU withdrawal bill. He told the Guardian:
I welcome the announcement today that parliament will be asked to approve any withdrawal agreement by statute but it remains the case that the bill as drafted does not reflect what the government is now promising - and the bill will therefore have to be changed to meet the government’s promise.
I hope that my amendment won’t be necessary but it will remain there to be debated and if necessary voted on.
John Bercow, the speaker, has granted an emergency debate on the Paradise Papers tomorrow. That means the debate on the EU withdrawal bill will start, and finish, later than planned.
Suella Fernandes, the Conservative chair of the European Research Group, which is pushing for a hard Brexit, asks Davis to confirm that MPs will not be able to use the newly-announced bill to reverse Brexit.
Davis agrees. It will be a meaningful vote, but not one that can undo Brexit, he says.
Davis says, if MPs reject any aspect of the Brexit deal bill, that will be taken by the government as an instruction to go back to Brussels and try again. But whether they take any notice is a matter for them, he says.
The Labour MP Mike Gapes says, if MPs vote down the proposed Brexit deal bill, the UK will leave the EU anyway without a deal. That means MPs are not getting a real choice, he says. It does not amount to parliament “taking back control”.
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