It’s one day to D-Day – and the Grieve Cabal has let the cat out of the bag. Today, they will publish their ‘Amendment’ – and their choice, allegedly, is to give “The People” (that’s us stupid, uninformed idiots) another vote: either for Ms May’s despicable WA or to stay in the EU!
Yesterday I surmised that these Tory wreckers (you can find a list here) might have the silent support of Ms May. Today it’s become obvious: this is another way to get Ms May and the EU the deal which will bind us to Brussels and which will wreck our Constitution, forever. But then again – if we become the first EU vassal state, we don’t really need Parliament any longer, do we!
So what is this Grieve & Cable proposal all about? The text will be published today, and we’ll make it available to you here once we have it.
Apparently, they will propose that, should Ms May be defeated tomorrow, ‘Parliament’ will take over the ensuing Brexit negotiations with Brussels by allowing backbench MPs to table legislative proposals and amendments (see here). In other words – Parliament no longer scrutinises Bills and Legislation submitted by the duly elected Government but will itself initiate Legislation. Stephen Glover in the DM writes about the dangers of this ‘Coup’, calling it a constitutional outrage:
“Britain famously has an unwritten constitution. On the whole it has worked pretty well over the years, evolving to address political developments and challenges. It’s not, though, set in stone. But what a group of MPs is now plotting is nothing less than a constitutional coup which, if successful, could change the way in which we have been governed for well over a century.”
He writes that the Grieve Cabal is not ‘asserting Parliamentary Sovereignty’ but reneging on their pledge to honour our Brexit vote as set out in the Manifesto on which they were elected in 2017.
Nikki Da Costa, Director of Legislative Affairs at 10 Downing Street from September 2017 to November 2018, describes how this would work:
“[…] you would need to target the ‘arrangement of public business’, and further empower the backbench business committee, you might target government control over daily business, and you would look at empowering backbenchers to programme bills. […] If passed the Government retains the title of executive but loses the power that goes with it. Given the lack of a majority following the June 2017 general election, the reality would be that Parliament would be able to legislate at will with just a handful of Conservative or DUP rebels. There would be no stability and such changes would likely expedite a general election.”(my bold)(source)
Here’s another ‘take’ on this Grieve&Cable ‘Bill:
“If Theresa May loses tomorrow’s crunch vote, authority for drawing up a new negotiating blueprint could pass to a panel of senior backbenchers […] The liaison committee, which is dominated by Remainers by a margin of 27 to nine, would be charged with coming up with a proposal supported by MPs. The Prime Minister would then be required to go to Brussels to negotiate for it […] The dramatic move would mean tearing up the Commons rule book – giving backbench MPs the power to propose legislation instead of the Government. A Cabinet minister described it as a ‘copper-bottomed, bullet-proof plan to sink Brexit which relies on the fact the Government has no majority and the Speaker will bend the rules’ […] A source close to the move said the changes to the standing orders of the House of Commons would be temporary and would be reversed after Brexit. A leading figure behind the move added: ‘This is not a wholesale reordering of the British constitution. It would be a one-off surgical strike and afterwards things would go back to normal.”
One cannot but be flabbergasted by this wide-eyed stupidity! Do they not know that once a precedent has been created it cannot be wished away? Do they not know that the EU has said categorically and repeatedly that there won’t be any negotiations? Mind you, they do seem to be a bit worried in Brussels because they seem to become more willing to grant an Article 50 extension. So no surprise when we read this morning that the EU is ‘prepared’ for such extension – see here and here:
“Given the opposition within the UK to Mrs May’s negotiated Withdrawal Deal, EU leaders are expecting an imminent request from London to extend article 50. European Council president Donald Tusk is ready to convene a special leader’s summit as soon as the UK requests the extension. An EU official said: “Should the Prime Minister survive and inform us that she needs more time to win round Parliament to a deal, a technical extension up to July will be offered.”
If this happens then we can envisage extension after extension to Article 50 because MPs, not the Government, will drive the necessary Legislation, and the EU negotiators have of course got to give them time, generously – because the longer we are tied to the EU the firmer their grip on us will become.
This additional, last-minute analysis of May’s deal by actual experts, the formidable Martin Howe QC amongst them, emphasises forcefully why MPs must vote against May’s WA, planned coup or not. They scrutinise the role of the proposed Joint Committee (buried in an annexe to the 585-WA) whose remit is to ‘settle disputes’. It makes my blood run cold – and because the article is behind a paywall, I shall quote at length:
“The committee can be chaired by two unelected civil servants, who can meet or even correspond in secret to make “binding decisions” on the UK and EU, […] Civil servants can be appointed to the committee, meetings will be considered to be “confidential” and any minutes or the agenda can be kept secret, it states. […] meetings can happen as little as once a year while legally binding decisions can be taken simply by an “exchange of notes” between the two co-chairmen.
The agreement states the committee’s decisions “shall be binding on the Union and the United Kingdom, and the Union and the United Kingdom shall implement those decisions. They shall have the same legal effect as this Agreement.”
Martin Howe QC, a leading expert in EU law, told The Daily Telegraph: “The Withdrawal Agreement contains a presumption of secrecy regarding the proceedings of the Joint Committee. Unless Parliament were to legislate to constrict or control the activities of the UK representative on the Joint Committee, a civil servant could wield very substantial legislative powers without oversight from Parliament. This is a matter of great concern.” (My emphasis)
Indeed it is!
While the Wreckers plot (have they actually read the 585 pages?), while May still rushes about trying to sell her WA, while journalists now write that her ‘deal’ is better than no Brexit, omitting the “No Deal-WTO Brexit”, thus singing from May’s own hymn sheet, while others point to the threatened Constitutional Coup, I wonder who actually are the ‘thick, uneducated’ people here: the wrecker MPs, the Remainers and the Remain journalists – or us?
I am rather worried that, the grandstanding, the “sound and fury” of the Wreckers and Remainers notwithstanding, frightened MPs may well vote for May tomorrow – and hand us over to the EU in perpetuity.
-“…reneging on their pledge to honour our Brexit vote as set out in the Manifesto on which they were elected in 2017”
This is a very important point, but we must also remember the number of times that previous Governments have either reneged on manifesto pledges or simply failed to carry them out.
I remember reading a while back an important observation/comment, namely that the problem we have is that manifesto pledges are just ‘promises’ and have no legal basis. I can’t remember where I read this, forgive me, it was either in a book or an online article somewhere.
But the suggestion was made that somehow manifesto pledges should form the basis of a ‘contract’ with the people, and upon assuming power that Government would be ‘contractually obliged’ to fulfil any promises or pledges made as part of their election manifesto.
This is all a very moot point of course, as we don’t currently have this process in place legally.
But if it were, and if Parliament was carrying on like it is at present, it would be seen as breaking its ‘contractual obligation’, by trying to prevent Brexit from occurring, and the Government would be in breach of contract with the electorate. What would happen next, I don’t know, I’m no legal expert. And who would enforce it and how? If the Government was in breach of contract, then there would be grounds for the dissolving of parliament and a new general election. Much in the same way if I was in breach of my contract of employment I would expect to be dismissed by my employer.
While it doesn’t help us right now, it is an interesting idea, and if implemented would put an end to parties making promises that they either can’t or have no intention of delivering (like bringing down net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’, or abolishing student tuition fees, or a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, or ‘honouring the result of the EU referendum’).
I wouldn’t bet on that Kevin.
This is pure infamy! Treachery against the State is now laid bare for all to see! A group of traitors who do not fear the righteous wrath of the electorate in any way at all! Dominic Grieve and his plotters are no better than the likes of Guy Fawkes who plotted to blow up Parliament!!! I was so incensed by this yesterday that I put pen to paper (again) to let my MP know my views!!!! Rant follows:-
“On the eve of the vote on Mrs May’s ‘deal’ I am consumed with anger and disgust at the recent events that have taken place within the ‘Mother of Parliaments’! The actions of the egregious Speaker (in collusion with a one-time senior Conservative to force through an amendment that will have far reaching consequences for the ongoing operation of all future Parliaments) have shown that there is no longer any honour or integrity within the political system of Britain.
Now, it is proposed that a group of ‘Remain’ politicians are going to attempt the once totally unthinkable! A Parliamentary coup that will usurp government altogether in order to bring about the wishes of the ‘Remainers’ rather than to deliver the will of the people. What more heinous action could there be?
Mrs May’s ‘deal’ is not fit for purpose and most certainly should be defeated. It is a legal document with international implications which, if brought into play will inevitably bind us to the EU for ever (for it is very unlikely that they will ever be brought to agree to let us leave it!!!) with all the unpleasant consequences that it would bring.
Parliament voted either, to deliver a suitable deal or to leave with ‘no deal’ if the deal proposed was unacceptable. That vote was set into the statute book for all to see!
It is a shameful day that has brought democracy so low that a group of treasonous plotters will be prepared to overthrow not just the will of the people but centuries of Parliamentary procedure that has protected this country from harm. Foreign countries own legislatures are watching this country, that has restored independence to all of its historical dominions, now taking the unprecedented step of surrendering itself to become a vassal state of the EU.
The state of trust between the electorate and the elected has now been broken. Democracy is dead and no-one in Britain will ever again be able, or inclined, to believe anything that any politician says.
I believe that the electorate will turn away from the current parliamentary system and that, in due time, something will occur to restore democracy to its proper state in Britain. The road might be long and hard but I believe in the people and their resilience. They will ensure that Britain will survive. How sad that our politicians have been directly instrumental in the demise of a system that has stood the test of centuries!”
Bravo Frederica
Good for you Frederika. I also fired off a rant at my local Conservative Association as follows; The Withdrawal Agreement is akin to a sick mongrel puppy. The least Mrs May could have done was to demand a healthy, fully trained pedigree guide dog in return for the £39 billion blackmail money demanded by the EU. If WTO Brexit is overturned I will never again vote for any of the main political parties in any election. What would be the point if democracy has been killed off.
The UK must leave the EU. The EU are against us, not only demanding an enormous annual contribution so that we can have a trade deficit with them, but also because Brussels has given £110,000,000 to Jaguar Land Rover to move production to Slovakia. They did the same when they paid Cadburys to move production to Poland. The UK needs to move to World Trade to succeed.
Also, the Euro is likely to collapse by the end of 2019 and we must be out to avoid being dragged down by the collapse of the Euro.
Viv thanks for pulling together all this details in a most readable form.
It seems to me that the EU and their fifth column in the UK are attempting a rerun of what was done to Greece nearly a decade ago
ie to replace the national elected government with imposed unelected apparatchiks who operate in secrecy and who are totally unaccountable to the local electorate
The other real EU backstop to consider is what happened with Denmark and Ireland when their people voted down the EU in respective referenda – “go away and vote again the way we want you peasants”
What May has been doing all along is to drag out what should have been an instant leave announcement by Cameron along with his resignation in 2016 immediately after the referendum result (stuff Article 50 in other words, what would or could the EU have done about it?)
She has delayed delayed delayed precisely to give the EU time to come up with a multi-layered plan to subvert the will of the British people and more, to end one of the oldest democracies in the world.
This is not acceptable and will not pass.
At its heart the conflict is between the majority view of electors and the majority view of MPs. I have long thought that the only way such a conflict can be resolved is with a General Election.
For Leavers a satisfactory outcome could be a hung parliament providing the MP balance of Leave and Remain shifts in favour of Leave. A while ago this look entirely possible given UKIP as a significant electoral force: standing against Labour and Conservative Remain MPs in what could only be thought of as THE BREXIT ELECTION – thus electors would primarily vote on that issue. But now that does not look look like such a convincing argument.
Irrespective of UKIP’s electoral prospects, the General Election does still seem to be the best way forward compared with all the legitimate and illegitimate schemes afoot for anything other than a General Election. Makes you think; the more it is dismissed by Remainer Tories the more I like it.
One thing about we have heard nothing is a Leave conspiracy. Faced with the Remain conspiracy I would have thought an increasing number Leave inclined, but so far Party loyal, MPs would rally behind a Leave champion. The only credible such champion is Boris, and perhaps with memories of Churchill in 1940 flooding through his brain his moment in history is about to happen.
I agree with everything you say. Its Boris’ moment of destiny… Read his excellent book ‘The Churchill Factor’ .
Also a general election will clear the air. With Johnson as Tory ( Brexit) leader he would win. With May they would lose to the more charismatic Corbyn.
Any other approach will leave an embittered and febrile situation fraught with dangers, serious dangers like civil unrest or worse.
It’s almost now a national security issue. Very serious indeed and one which few are picking up on, but which I feel in my bones.
Perhaps Gerard will make some comments about this…. Today PLEASE.
May is untouchable for 11 months or so, how does Boris get to be leader?
She resigns as Corbyn forces a no confidence vote ( she ‘promised’ not to fight another election)
May’s promise, worthless at best, was for the 2022 GE only, there is no way she will risk handing over to Boris or anyone else at this time.
Motion of no confidence in the government followed by a G.E. unlikely but possible, how does that help Brexit answer it doesn’t and we get Labour.
Only potential value is that it might be possible to delay a GE until after 29th March, thus allowing the clock to run down to an automatic escape from the EU (and remainer’s ) clutches.
Parliament is still firing on three cylinders: Mrs May’s EU entrapment deal, another “People’s Vote” (madness: doing the same thing and expecting a different result), or the alternative to the bad deal, the WTO deal (happily the default deal for which preparations are already well in hand). Is this really so difficult?
So how to move on? Ignore the doom and gloom and propagate the real upbeat message – the world of trade is moving on and the UK should move with it – we must look for the real opportunities of the future (exploding Asian middle classes with needs to be met) rather than dwelling on the fading dreams of the past.
Fortune favours the brave, not the terminally timid.
I’m beginning to get a sneaking suspicion that maybe the IRA and others had a point if they were trying to deal with our lot.Maybe I’ll suport SNP
They are much worse – be careful you don’t jump the frying pan into the fire 🙂
Bringing a government to an agreement has often required a credible threat of violence from the other side. Elsewhere, getting rid of a terminally corrupt government has been achieved by military coup. I’m sure that we would all prefer the democratic process to deliver but where is our backstop?
As it is there seem to be no consequences for those in government who lie and cheat for their own evil ends. No wonder Blair watered down our treason and sedition law.
This is a nightmare!
Both here and in the US the contempt for democracy has become increasingly blatant. In the US, Democrats and the Left have refused to accept a democratically elected president and here in the UK a democratically arrived at decision to leave the EU. I always predicted that things would get difficult but now I think they’ll get much, much worse before they get better.
Indeed I’m beginning to think I may never see a return to relative normality, things are getting surreal and quite frightening. We’re looking a constitutional crisis, the loss of one of the world’s oldest democracies and I actually think that this is going to end in violence and bloodshed and possibly even outright warfare.
I’m sorry to say that I just don’t see any happy endings here. In reality this is a coup d etat by the EU and its quislings in our government, they’ve almost achieved what Germany failed to achieve in two world wars without a shot being fired so far, but they will be fired I think.
Very depressing times and if we allow this sell out by our government we have a long fight ahead of us.
May has agreed to the unification of our military with the e.u, via bi lateral agreements with various states including France and Germany who are to sign a bi lateral agreement themselves on the Jan 24th when it will also be ratified. This will lead to H.M forces being part of a e.u control system, and taxation will follow to pay for it. Why are the M.P’s and the BBC not reporting this. No control of our military we are then no longer a nation state who will also be paying taxes to the e.u without representation.
My M.P thinks this and the W.A is fine, despite the constituency voting leave by a large margin.
Those who have family in the military should as ask them a simple question:
“Are you going to take the side of the government or our side when a revolt kicks off?”
I’d be interested to know the consensus.
It would appear that the end of this is not going to be pleasant as some would think, I wonder what will ‘kick off’ first? Monarchy still very quiet though.
“Monarchy” has been absolutely useless in acting on our behalf. Protocol should be ignored when one’s country is about to be lost.
Likely to be even worse when Crackpot Charlie becomes king.
Bollocks to Grieve…..
They will never shut us up now…