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The word in the corridors of Westminster Friday was that this unprecedented multi-party "insurgency" was gaining strength. The government's "Plan B" – to be tabled Monday and debated in the House of Commons the following week – would be canceled if the Members' Act was pbaded.
Among the deputies behind the measure are conservatives Nick Boles and Yvette Cooper and Hilary Benn of Labor. However, they and other supporters of the bill will have to work with the Speaker of the House to get parliamentary time for their proposal.
An essential part of the bill – dubbed European Retirement 3.0 – would delay the UK's departure from the EU on March 29 if Parliament could not agree on the way forward. to be continued. This is the day that Article 50 – the withdrawal calendar of the UK – expires. Any extension should be approved by the 27 other members of the EU.
According to a research paper that has just been published by the House of Commons Library, the bill means that "the government would be required to seek an extension of the two-year bargaining period under the law." 39, Article 50 ". "The drafters of the bill are specifically considering an extension of just over 9 months, from March 29, 2019 to December 31, 2019."
The government insisted that the threat of a Brexit "without agreement" was an important part of its negotiating strategy with the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May has systematically ruled out an extension of Article 50, although many commentators believe that there is not enough time in Parliament to enact the legislation needed to give effect to the withdrawal of Article 50. here at the end of March.
According to the transcript of a leaked conference call, the British Chancellor or Finance Minister, Philip Hammond, told business leaders last week that MPs' initiative would be "some kind of ultimate support if the government strives to find a way forward fails to deliver. "
Control of fight
The initiative of the deputies will not go well with the leaders of one or the other of the main parties. But this shows how fluid the situation in Westminster is and how the usual rules are disintegrating as Britain rushes out of the European Union.
The Prime Minister's agreement on Brexit was abolished by a historic margin of 230 votes earlier this week, with 118 MPs from his own party voting against it. On Monday, she must return to the House of Commons with a revised plan, but it's hard to see what concessions or amendments she might propose that would erode this huge majority against her.
While there is a large majority in the House of Commons against Britain moving away from the EU in a haphazard way, there has not been a majority so far for an alternative to the road map from May. European governments are stepping up their preparations for the dislocation that would accompany a Brexit without agreement and will tell the UK that it must make the next step if it wants to break the stalemate. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said bluntly on Friday: "It's now up to the British to say clearly what they want."
Was it so simple? The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, tweeted on Friday that he had discussed with May "the next steps on the British side". But there was no indication of what these could be.
Some in Europe – even though their numbers are decreasing – continue to hope that Brexit is still reversible. In a letter to the Times of London, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, supposed to succeed Angela Merkel as Chancellor, joined with other German personalities to write: "No choice is irreversible. Our door will always remain open. "
While Theresa May says her door is open to other party leaders, Jeremy Corbyn, of Labor, does not intend to run it. He declined May's invitation to discuss the way forward unless she excluded the possibility that the UK would leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement. It's this paralysis that has pushed backbenchers to try to start boiling.
But those behind the supposed uprising take great risks. Ignoring party discipline in the UK Parliament rarely goes unpunished. And some conservative Conservative MPs are already facing calls for their deselection before the next election, regardless of their situation. Nick Boles told the BBC Friday that a hundred party activists in his constituency wanted his resignation.
Conservative divisions
The question of Europe ravages the conservative party since Britain joined what was then the European Common Market in 1973. The current divisions are so deep and so bitter that the party could be torn apart.
Conservative MPs involved in the move to exclude a Brexit without agreement seem ready to abandon the party line to free the Westminster stalemate. They can even get the support of some junior ministers.
Other Conservative MPs believe the move is irresponsible. A member of the Prime Minister's party, frustrated by this attempt to seize power, told CNN: "I see no precedent in which Parliament would take control of the government, which is truly historic. power of kings and peers and we are now undoubtedly taking that away from the British people, and we are doing it arbitrarily because we do not like what they said. "
Many supporters of the Brexiteer party believe that an extension of Article 50 would pave the way for a "more moderate" Brexit that would tie the UK to the EU in a way that They would find it unacceptable – and even allow a second referendum.
This same faction reminds the Prime Minister of what happened to one of his predecessors. In 1846, Robert Peel pbaded a law on free trade, which was opposed by the majority of his conservative colleagues.
"That left the conservatives out of power for 28 years," said one of May's greatest critics and a prominent Brexiteer scholar, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
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