House of Commons to ERUPT as whips furiously bid for DELAY – Labour & ERG plot against PM

It has now emerged MPs will have to vote on whether the crunch vote is postponed after it was reported the Prime Minister is poised to cancel the ‘meaningful vote’ on Tuesday in a bid to avoid an embarrassing defeat. MPs have now signalled their intention to vote against delaying the crunch vote. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the House of Commons would “erupt” when the Government announces its plans to delay the vote. 

She posted: “Not trying to make your head explode, but there is a possibility that the govt might not actually be able to pull the vote – at least not without an enormous parliamentary row – (checks Erskine May). 

“Not impossible that Labour will work with ERG to vote against the govt pulling the vote – yes you read that right – govt might lose the vote they might need to win to pull the big vote.”

“Govt whips apparently confident they can delay the vote – but it may be when they try that the ‘house erupts’ – according to one MP.” 

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At least three Tory MPs have already confirmed their intention to vote against the move to cancel the vote, BuzzFeed reports.

James Duddridge MP posted on Twitter: “The PM does not get to pull a vote. The House will have to vote to pull a vote. I will oppose. We need to see this deal off once and for all.” 

The news will come as another blow to Theresa May who has faced a tough day after it was reported she is poised to suspend the vote on her Brexit deal in the face of what had been expected to be a significant defeat at the hands of rebel MPs.

A Government source confirmed that the vote was being pulled, with the Prime Minister due to inform the House of Commons in an oral statement at 3.30pm.

News that the crucial “meaningful vote” was being postponed broke just moments after a Downing Street spokeswoman told Westminster reporters at a regular daily briefing that it would go ahead.

The pound fell sharply in response, shedding 0.5% versus the US dollar to stand at 1.26. Against the euro, the pound was 0.8% down at 1.10.

Mrs May was engaged in a conference call by telephone with her Cabinet ministers as the story broke.

There was no official confirmation from 10 Downing Street that the vote was being called off.

But a senior source said: “It’s being pulled.”

Mrs May’s hastily-arranged oral statement is widely expected to confirm that she intends to seek further concessions from Brussels to try to win over rebellious backbenchers.

The statement will be followed by Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom announcing changes to parliamentary business for the days ahead, and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will then make a statement to MPs on the Article 50 process.

Ian Talbot, the chief executive of the business network Chambers Ireland, said deferring a decision could see Britain could “fall off a cliff” unless a decision is made to “do something”.

He said: “We need some certainty – we absolutely need to know what’s happening so we can have some preparation time.

“What we want to achieve is get the message over that Britain can’t keep deferring making any decisions whatsoever, because having triggered the Article 50 deadline and March 29, unless some decision is a made to do something Britain could fall off a cliff.”

He said delay would create uncertainty for businesses, such as the aviation industry, as he called for action that brings the UK nearer to a solution.

Mr Talbot, who is also deputy president of Eurochambres, added: “As long as we keep deferring coming to a decision on where we’re going to move forward, investment is drying up, for example, in anything involving Brexit, research, education, all these things – everyone is standing back waiting to see what happens.”

Government minister Nadhim Zahawi said the Prime Minister “has listened to colleagues and will head to Brussels to push back on the backstop.”

But a spokeswoman for European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker poured cold water on hopes of a renegotiation.

In a press briefing in Brussels, Mina Andreeva said: “As President Juncker said, this deal is the best and only deal possible.

“We will not renegotiate – our position has therefore not changed and as far as we are concerned the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union on March 29 2019.”