A senior Labour MP leading a backbench effort to rule out a no-deal Brexit has argued that much of the government, including Theresa May, privately want this to happen, and are relying on parliament to take action.
At the start of a political week in the prime minister is likely to rule out any cross-party efforts to push ahead with a variation of her rejected Brexit plan, Yvette Cooper said it was time for MPs to act.
Cooper, who chairs the home affairs select committee, is to table an amendment to a government motion on Monday which would seek to extend article 50 if a no deal departure on 29 March was looking likely.
Other backbench proposals from MPs, such as the Tories Nick Boles and Dominic Grieve, could lead to indicative votes being held in the Commons to scope out a consensus, or to the prioritising of proposals from a minority of 300 MPs from at least five parties.
The junior business minister Richard Harrington urged May to rule out a no-deal Brexit, saying it would be an absolute disaster for the UK.
May held a conference call with her cabinet on Sunday evening and will make a statement to the Commons on Monday in which she is likely to announce that she will seek fresh concessions from Brussels before putting her plan to MPs again.
Stephen Laws, formerly the head government legislation lawyer, told Today he was concerned that backbench plans to control the Brexit process could cause a constitutional crisis.
Arguing that parliamentary rules give a clear veto to the government over any bills involving significant spending, Laws said that if MPs forced through a measure, May could ask the Queen to decline royal assent.
I don’t think it’s a fanciful speculation, because if the rules aren’t applied as they should be, that’s what will happen, he said.
Speaking earlier on the programme, Harrington refused to rule out backing a proposal such as Cooper’s. I don’t know what the bill will be, or the mechanism. But all will change in the next couple of days.
Harrington, who has pledged to resign if May pushes for a no-deal Brexit, said the option would be an absolute disaster for the country, and it’s supported by a minority of a minority of people.
He said: She should in my view say: We are responsible people, we are going to do our duty to Britons and we’re going to rule out no deal.