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Brexit Block? Some MPs Plan To Stop Article 50 And Force A Second Referendum

By Kris Holt
Published on: 02:37 PST, Nov 11, 2016

All hope was not quite lost for those hoping there’d be a way to impose a Brexit block.

Prime Minister Theresa May had announced her intention to trigger Article 50 by the end of March, but last week, the U.K.’s High Court ruled that Parliament should get to decide whether the country invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would formally begin the Brexit process of the U.K. separating from the European Union.

The government is appealing that decision with the Supreme Court, and a Brexit hearing is scheduled to start on December 5.

If that appeal is unsuccessful, the government will need to draft a bill on Article 50, which Brexit Secretary David Davis has suggested would happen in the beginning of 2017.

In that case, members of Parliament and the House of Lords would both need to approve Article 50 talks before they can begin.

That could mean politicians can have their say on how the Brexit talks should unfold, with possible attempts to add in caveats like requiring the government to negotiate a deal that keeps the U.K. within the European single market (informally known as “soft Brexit”) rather than completely scrapping existing trade and customs deals with the EU and starting over (a “hard Brexit”).

Many Remain campaigners are hoping for the former, and now some MPs are suggesting they will vote for a Brexit block. That is, unless there’s a second Brexit referendum that would allow citizens to vote on how EU discussions should play out.

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron said his party’s eight MPs would oppose Article 50 were that the case — his party has called for a referendum on the outcome of the government’s Brexit discussions with the EU.

He said, according to BBC News, “Article 50 would proceed but only if there is a referendum on the terms of the deal and if the British people are not respected then, yes, that is a red line and we would vote against the government.”

The Labour Party does not formally plan to vote for a Brexit block, but some of the party’s MPs are considering voting against it. Those include Shadow Minister Catherine West, Owen Smith (who competed for the party’s leadership this year), and former Minister David Lammy.

Helen Hayes, an MP for South London, also pledged to vote for a Brexit block unless the government approved a second referendum.

“I had somebody in my surgery last week who was in tears because of Brexit and I see genuine distress amongst my constituents about what this path means. I would not be representing them if I voted to trigger Article 50 on the basis of no information from the government about the path that they would then take us on.”

The three Social Democratic and Labour Party MPs are also planning to try and vote down the Brexit bill.

Some additional opposition could come from the Scottish National Party. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her MPs will not support legislation that undermines the wishes of Scots, 62 percent of whom voted to remain in the EU — 52 percent of the U.K. voted for Brexit.

Sturgeon has also said that if the Houses of Parliament are to hold a vote, the Scottish Parliament should also have to give approval before talks can start, otherwise it may attempt a Brexit block of its own.

Although the Brexit bill allowing the government to trigger Article 50 seems likely to pass, with the Conservative Party holding a majority and most Labour MPs apparently likely to support or abstain from voting, the dissenting MPs might strengthen the resolve of critics in the House of Lords.

While the Labour Party has formally said it will not seek a Brexit block in the House of Commons, Labour and Liberal Democrat peers, along with Conservative peer Baroness Wheatcroft, plan to amend any Brexit bill when it reaches the House of Lords.

All of this, of course, is contingent on whether the government is successful in its Supreme Court appeal. If it is not, Remain MPs are likely to formally try for a Brexit block after all.

[Featured Image by Tim Ireland/AP Images]

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