Commons in chaos as Home Office faces cross-party rebellion on vote
HOME Secretary Theresa May faced down a cross-party rebellion in the House of Commons last night after she pushed through a vote on just 11 EU measures instead of the full 35 MPs had expected, including the European arrest warrant.
May’s decision not to allow time for a full vote on the 35 opt-in justice measures sparked uproar from MPs across the House, who called on the government to allocate more time to debate the controversial measure, which would see the UK sign up to extradition powers.
As mutiny spread within the Tory party, Prime Minister David Cameron was interrupted at the Lord Mayor’s Dinner and returned to the Commons to take part in the crucial vote, which eventually passed by 464 to 38.
Still in white tie, Cameron joined chancellor George Osborne and other senior cabinet ministers to ensure the motion passed after MPs threatened to rebel.
Despite the tumultuous atmosphere the government succeeded largely thanks to the support of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
The decision to grant MPs time to debate just 11 of the 35 measures prompted speaker John Bercow to openly criticise the government in an unprecedented speech, claiming whips had tried to slip the vote through in an unparliamentary way.
“This has been a sorry saga and the House should not be put in this position. Most of us think that a commitment made is a commitment that should be honoured, and we should try to operate according to sensible standards, rather than try to slip things through through some sort of artifice,” Bercow said.
The decision, which was taken by May’s aides to avoid an embarrassing defeat for Cameron at the hands of his own MPs, according to a senior Tory party source, had the opposite effect and caused a significant number Conservative MPs to speak against the motion.
Bill Cash, chair of the European Scrutiny Committee accused government whips of tricking MPs with a plot “tainted with chicanery”.
“This is a disgraceful way of going about a very very important matter,”he said.
Meanwhile Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory MP for North East Somerset, called it “underhand”.
MPs from all sides made loud and impassioned interventions, calling on May to rethink the debate and allow a vote on the controversial arrest warrant, on which up to 100 Conservative MPs had been widely expected to rebel.
Labour could now try to force a second debate on the measure later this month.