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Robert Peston
@Peston
, 5 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
I am told cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill and attorney general Geoffrey Cox informed Cabinet that if at the end of the Letwin process MPs pass a motion mandating the PM to pursue a new route through the Brexit mess - perhaps a referendum, or membership...
of the customs union, or some other softer future relationship with the EU - the PM and government would be in breach of the ministerial code and the law if they failed to follow MP's instructions. I'll put out a blog on this in a bit. But this matters because it dispels...
impression created by PM, and certainly believed by many Brexiter MPs, that she would be at liberty to ignore the results of the Letwin scheme. Which means that if she brings back her deal for a meaningful vote on Friday, which is her current plan, that may be the last time...
for MPs and Northern Ireland's DUP to secure any Brexit at all or a Brexit they see as worth the name (if they think Letwin will lead to MPs coalescing around a single route through the current impasse - which of course may not happen). Whether her deal passes based on...
such Brexiter and DUP fear is of course still moot.
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Robert Peston
@Peston
Labour has not tabled a motion for today’s indicative votes on a way through the Brexit mess. That implies the thrust of its effort will be to secure support for the Kyle/Wilson call for a “confirmatory” referendum (a referendum on any Brexit deal approved...
by parliament). The big question is whether Labour will whip or compel its MPs to vote again for the Clarke motion that mandates the government to keep the UK in the customs union, because it will be aware of what I argued yesterday, that if Clarke emerges as the winner...
that would provide the best backdrop for @theresa_may to have one last shot at having her own deal approved, tomorrow (for more on her plans, see itv.com/news/2019-03-3…). But the most interesting question would be how Labour whips and votes on the motion laid...
Read 9 tweets
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Robert Peston
@Peston
The motion for MPs tomorrow "approves Withdrawal Agreement" if passed - but weirdly does not represent a meaningful vote on Brexit. It would lock in 22 May as Brexit day, rather than 12 April. But is hugely confusing - because unless and until the EU Withdrawal Act is reformed...
the UK would still leave the EU without a deal. Some would say this is nuts
When I say EU Withdrawal Act "reformed", I mean amended. It's been a long week and I am losing the will to live
Read 3 tweets
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Robert Peston
@Peston
Commons chatter is that in promising Tory Brexiters that if they vote for her deal their dreams come true and they get @BorisJohnson or @DominicRaab as next PM, @theresa_may has given new incentive to Labour's soft Brexiters and Tory Remainers not to vote for her deal, because...
if Johnson or Raab is in charge of negotiations on future relationship with EU, which are more important some would say than the divorce talks, that relationship will be uber Brexity. So in wooing one important constituency to get her deal over the line, she has alienated...
another important constituency. I am still very unclear how she gets her deal over the line
Read 3 tweets

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Nicholas Guyatt
@NicholasGuyatt
Brexit for Americans: the survivalist thread.
Last time on Brexit: UK prime minister Theresa May, aka the Limpet's Limpet, was clinging to power after her long-postponed Withdrawal Agreement with the EU was defeated in the House of Commons by a record margin.
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Values, believing, independent thinking, teamwork
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#BrexitCrisis

1. Theresa May claims she has won 'legally binding' changes to her deal
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Tom Kibasi
@TomKibasi
THREAD

The government's 'Stronger Towns Fund' could be a turning point in the Brexit debate.

Designed to give cover to Labour MPs to back Theresa May's deal, it is likely to have the opposite effect.

In fact, it leaves her parliamentary strategy in tatters. Here's why. (1/10)
The Fund is a pathetically small amount of money: just 0.05% of total government spending.

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It is less than the budget of St. Thomas' Hospital. (2/10)
One of the strongest emotions driving politics is humiliation.

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Mark Stone
@Stone_SkyNews
Ahead of @theresa_may’s latest visit to Brussels, where are we with #Brexit?!

A not-so-short thread which I hope simplifies a seemingly never-ending process but one which could have an abrupt end in less than 40 days. /1
Some context first: The key problem is the backstop - the Irish Protocol to us its proper name

It’s a section of the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) - a 585-page legal text which, together with a shorter Political Declaration (PD), forms the divorce treaty between UK & the EU. /2
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They were finalised + agreed by both the UK government (@10DowningStreet) and the EU (@EU_Commission) late last year. /3

(Skip to tweet 10 in the thread if you know this background!)
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Faisal Islam
@faisalislam
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox confirming the below reasoning in his comments now to Commons
“It’s a trap” shouts Tory MP when Cox says “There is no unilateral right for either party to terminate this arrangement”
Cox asks for MPs that although Brexit stirs high emotion they should show “wisdom and forebearance, calm and measured analysis”
Read 24 tweets
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Faisal Islam
@faisalislam
NEW - on @skynews shortly:
Reliable source tells me Withdrawal Deal text contains

- No unilateral exit from backstop

- Large annexe on level playing field
.... after reporting this on @SkyNews I get a call from a different senior source that this is “spot on” and further that the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has not pulled his punches in confirming in legal advice there is “no unilateral exit” from backstop ...
... furthermore I’m told (and this chimes with excellent Times splash this morning re Weyand) that the future partnership then takes its starting point as the activated backstop - ie UK-wide customs union-style arrangement and level playing field.
Read 4 tweets

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