Parliament will vote down May’s Brexit deal, predicts former minister
Parliament will reject the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal in order to trigger a fresh referendum, a former minister said today.
Justine Greening said there was no chance that May’s proposed Brexit deal could win a parliamentary vote, calling it the “worst of all worlds”.
“It leaves us with less influence, less controls over the rules we have to follow and … if we were to accept it as a parliament … less credibility as a country in the rest of the world as they would see that we would be prepared to go for a bad deal and we shouldn't have to do that,” the former education minister told the BBC.
But by also voting against the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, parliament would open up the possibility of a new referendum based on three choices, Greening said – voting for May’s deal, exiting without a deal or staying in the EU.
“We should be planning as to how we can put this final say in the hands of the British people,” she said.
“It’s up to parliament to make sure that it takes the decisions that enable the British people to have a meaningful vote of their own on the route forward on Brexit.”
Greening’s comments come after transport minister Jo Johnson quit the Cabinet on Friday, citing his disillusionment with May’s Brexit plans, and backing a second referendum.
May faces a crunch Cabinet meeting tomorrow after one of her proposals to avoid a hard border in Ireland was rejected by Brussels.
The Prime Minister had hoped that the whole of the UK could be kept in a temporary customs union with the EU, with a mechanism allowing the UK to leave at a time of its own choosing.
However, EU officials have reportedly rejected this suggestion.
It comes as reports emerge that Cabinet ministers voiced doubts about May’s Chequers plan when it was first aired in July.
Both David Davis and Boris Johnson have since resigned from the Cabinet over May’s strategy.