There are times in a nation’s history when it comes close to making an historic mistake. This is exactly the position that Britain was in yesterday.
We faced the real possibility of the UK crashing out of the EU on March 29 without any orderly process in place. This is a result that hardly anyone wants. And it would have been an historic mistake by any standard.
Our country would have been exposed to serious risks simply because the House of Commons might have had insufficient time to agree on an alternative to the Prime Minister’s deal if it was again rejected on March 12.
To prevent this happening a cross-party group of MPs had put together a series of amendments and a bill. These would, if passed by both houses of Parliament, have mandated a delay in the Article 50 process. The aim was to give Parliament the time to come up with an orderly and sensible solution in the event of the PM’s deal being rejected for a second time.
But that route to preventing a disorderly no-deal Brexit was fraught with difficulties. Parliament doesn’t normally take control to the extent of mandating the Government to follow a prescribed policy, and steering this kind of bill through the arcane procedures of the two houses of Parliament would have been no easy matter.
So it was with huge relief that most of us in the Commons heard Theresa May yesterday commit to take steps that will achieve the same effects. This avoids the need for unusual parliamentary manoeuvres, and provides a cast-iron guarantee that the House of Commons will have the time to establish a consensus on the way forward if her deal is rejected on March 12.
Some people have questioned whether we can rely on the Prime Minister’s commitment to seek a delay in Brexit if the Commons votes for her to do so. True, the Government has changed tack on the Brexit process — as governments often do. But we have learned that when the PM makes a specific commitment from the despatch box to a specific process she fully lives up to that commitment. She will do so on this occasion, too.
This represents a massive step forward. It means that we now have a way to avoid the historic mistake of a disorderly Brexit on March 29.
But every one of us in the House of Commons now needs to play our part in finding a resolution that can achieve a majority. This is the only way in which we can finally put paid to the prospect — even if now the somewhat more distant prospect — of a no-deal exit.
Read More
Much the easiest course is to vote for the Prime Minister’s deal on March 12. That is what I and many others will be doing. But if we can’t achieve a majority for her deal on that day, then we need to strain every sinew to achieve a cross-party consensus on a realistic alternative way forward — and fast.
A major advance has been made. But there is much more yet to do.
