On a point of order, Mr Speaker,
The House has today provided a clear majority against leaving
without a deal.
However, I will repeat what I have said before. This is about the
choices that this House faces. The legal default in UK and EU law
remains that the UK will leave the EU without a deal unless
something else is agreed.
The onus is now on every one of us in this House to find out what
that is.
The options before us are the same as they have always been:
We could leave with the deal which this Government has negotiated
over the past two years.
We could leave with the deal we have negotiated but subject to a
second referendum. But that would risk no Brexit at all, damaging
the fragile trust between the British public and the members of
this House.
We could seek to negotiate a different deal. However, the EU have
been clear that the deal on the table is indeed the only deal
available.
Mr Speaker, I also confirmed last night that, if the House
declined to approve leaving without a deal on 29 March 2019, the
Government would bring forward a motion on whether the House
supports seeking to agree an extension to Article 50 with the EU,
which is the logical consequence of the votes over the past two
days in this House.
The Leader of the House will shortly make an emergency business
statement confirming the change to tomorrow’s business.
The motion we will table will set out the fundamental choice
facing this House.
If the House finds a way in the coming days to support a deal, it
would allow the Government to seek a short limited technical
extension to Article 50 to provide time to pass the necessary
legislation and ratify the agreement we have reached with the EU.
But let me be clear, such a short technical extension is only
likely to be on offer if we have a deal in place.
Therefore, the House has to understand and accept that, if it is
not willing to support a deal in the coming days, and as it is
not willing to support leaving without a deal on 29 March, then
it is suggesting that there will need to be a much longer
extension to Article 50. Such an extension would
undoubtedly require the United Kingdom to hold European
Parliament elections in May 2019.
I do not think that would be the right outcome.
But the House needs to face up to the consequences of the
decisions it has taken.
MP, Leader of the , speaking in the House of
Commons after the vote against No Deal, said:
“Tonight this House has once again definitely ruled out No
Deal. The Prime Minister said the choice was between her deal
and No Deal. In the last 24 hours Parliament has decisively
rejected both her deal and No Deal. While an extension of
Article 50 is now inevitable, the responsibility for that
extension lies solely and squarely at the Prime Minister’s
door.
“But extending Article 50 without a clear objective is not a
solution. Parliament must now take control of the situation. In
the days that follow, myself, the Shadow Brexit Secretary and
others will have meetings with members across this House to
find a compromise solution that can command support in the
House. This means doing what the Prime Minister failed to do
two years ago: search for a consensus on the way forward.
“Labour has set out a credible alternative plan. Honourable
members across this House are coming forward with proposals,
whether that’s for a permanent customs union, a public vote,
Norway Plus or other ideas.
“Let us, as a House of Commons work now to find a solution - to
deal with the crisis facing the country and the deep concerns
that many people have for their livelihood, their lives, their
future, their jobs, their communities and their factories. It’s
up to us, as the House of Commons, to look for and find a
solution to their concerns. That is what we were elected to
do.”
