FT leader writer Sebastian Payne talks to three MPs about Brexit – Anne-Marie Trevelyan, James Cleverly and Vince Cable – and discusses the possibility of ‘no deal’; continuing support for Prime Minister Theresa May’s beleaguered deal; and the possibility of a second referendum. Read more at
It’s been one of the most dramatic weeks in living memory in westminster on tuesday theresa may face a historic defeat for her brexit package but 24 hours later she survived a no-confidence vote in her government where the very same conservative rebels backed her administration so the prime minister is safe her administration is safe what happens to brexit next
Well down she’d are having a series of talks with other party leaders to try and see what kind of cross-party consensus they can forge to get a deal through the commons before that crucial day of march 29th but what the mps think is going to happen next let as james cleverly deputy chairman of the conservative party and a firm backer of the prime minister still
The prime minister put forward was rejected by the house of commons which inevitably means that the prime minister has now got to explore what deal will get through the house of commons she said she’s committed to respecting the referendum result for us to leave the european union so she’s got a job to do which is to thrash out a deal but also mps have got a job
To do which is think seriously about what they would accept but time is running out it’s not that long until briggs a dana and this whole thing is just eating up all that time that could be used for no deal preparations well the no deal preparations are happening in parallel to the parliamentary process a government is getting on with that to make sure that if
That’s what happens and basically no one really wants that to happen but if it does then we’re ready for it but also what what we have to do is recognize that that time deadline forces the pressure on us so the government is pushing forward but what are the brig’s eaters think anne-marie terellian is a conservative mp from the north of england who resigned from
The government over teresa mays positions we must make sure that in leaving the year we can have our own trade deals for instance that we are not under the oversight of eu jurisdiction in future what if the prime minister though decide to shift towards a a permanent customs union well that would fail the can we do trade as a third nation both with the eu as one
Organization and with the us with china with india with we wouldn’t be able to do that in practical terms because those countries would not sign up to a trade deal with us because we would effectively be having the same trade rules as the eu do you think the chances of a no deal brakes ever increased and are you still happy with that outcome if it was to come about
Well sometimes we get closer to the red signs of march clearly if a deal a full sort of comprehensive withdrawal agreement can’t be found then we will have to move through that leaving the u date which is what the legislation demands that we do if we haven’t found something up but a lot of the logistics to avoid you know the sort of terror stories of crashing out
Are being put together so the leader of the house updated us today that over half of the statutory instruments required are in full process so there we know we’re plowing through them if we all have to work weekends to help get those through i’m sure your will and on the other end of the brexit spectrum remain campaigners are increasingly hopeful that exit will be
Delayed or not happen at all so vince cave our leader the liberal democrats things that’s where the debate is heading now at the moment there isn’t a majority of mps for people’s work there’s a substantial number and i think it’s growing but i think the crucial point is that theresa may and the government will itself accept probably at the last moment that they
Really have no alternative at the moment the deal she’s negotiated isn’t going anywhere doesn’t have support in parliament if she goes to the country with it and offers the alternative of remaining she’s got a 50-50 chance of winning and might well do so so i think actually that is a plausible outcome and you’re confident if there was another referendum the main
Would be victorious i am confident but i you know i realize it’s a risk i think it’s probable rather than possible that article 50 will be delayed it may indeed be cancelled altogether i think the whole idea that you know the end of march was going to be some glorious independence day that’s now becoming a sick joke so no one is quite sure what’s going to happen
To prented over the next few days and weeks what i do think is that if a brexit deal is eventually going to pass through the house of commons that is going to be softer than the warm teresa may put forward this week some kind of customs union or single mark in addition to what prime minister has proposed if that does happen it could create some schisms or even
Split within both the conservative and labor parties or we could still spill over into another general election or second referendum if either of those two things happen and the high drama we’ve seen in westminster this week appears to be far from over
Transcribed from video
Why Theresa May and MPs will move towards softer Brexit By Financial Times
