Thanks to an amendment tabled on Monday evening MPs look like they’ve taken back control of Brexit, but they could also have mistakenly given Theresa May’s deal the lifeline it desperately needed.
On Wednesday there will be a series of indicative votes in parliament on alternatives to May’s Brexit proposal. An amendment tabled by Conservative backbencher Oliver Letwin passed by a majority of 27 votes on Monday, meaning MPs will vote on an array of Brexit proposals, including a Common Market solution; a Free Trade Agreement Brexit; and a second referendum.
The votes will not be legally binding but will be an expression of the political will of the House. Earlier on Monday, May spoke against this amendment, saying she was “sceptical” of the process of indicative votes. She added, perhaps suspecting impending defeat, that she could not commit to implementing the outcome of these votes, whatever that might be.
Minutes prior to the vote pro-EU Conservative minister Richard Harrington resigned to support the amendment – he had been threatening his resignation for months however so it unlikely came as a shock. Two other government ministers also resigned to vote against the government.
So – it looks as if MPs have seized some control of the Brexit process from the government. But it remains a possibility that Letwin’s amendment may come as a boost to May’s deal. While the DUP said today that their opposition to the Withdrawal Agreement remained the same as ever, if the House expresses an interest in a much softer form of Brexit on Wednesday we might see them change their minds. Additionally, Jacob Rees-Mogg of the die-hard ERG said earlier that he might support May’s deal if the DUP were to come on board.
If enough MPs indicate support for a full customs union or some other form of soft Brexit, the hard Brexiteers may last minute come onside to May’s deal – believing it to be a compromise but better than a soft Brexit or the threat of no Brexit at all.