Anti-Brexit plot: Remainer MPs hatch secret plan to force second referendum next week
REMAINER MPs determined to keep the UK tied to the European Union have hatched a secret plot to force a vote on a second referendum as early as next week.
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The group, which includes Labour’s Peter Kyle, are planning on using the same tactics as the rebel MPs behind the Benn Act to try to seize control of the Brexit timetable. A handful of MPs told the Guardian they would pursue the plan if Boris Johnson continued to insist on a “pause” of his revised deal until lawmakers agreed to a December 12 general election. On Friday the Prime Minister was still sticking to his guns and refused to back down after he urged Jeremy Corbyn to “man up” and support a public ballot.
The alliance of rebels plan on bringing back either Mr Johnson’s deal or Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement and hold votes on attaching a second referendum and a customs union.
They also want to extend the transition period to prevent an exit on the terms of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Mr Kyle told the Guardian he had been discussing the plan with former Tories.
He said bringing Mr Johnson’s deal back to Parliament was “one of the options on the table”.
He added that the group would first wait to see what moves Mr Corbyn and the EU would take before proceeding with their plan.
European ambassadors met in Brussels on Friday where they discussed whether to grant Britain more time.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s ambassador stood alone in his fierce opposition to allowing Brexit to be delayed until the end of January.
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Instead, he argued for a much shorter extension, lasting no more than a few weeks.
Lawmakers would need to be nodded through by Speaker of the House John Bercow.
This should not be too much of a problem as the Remainer speaker has been accused by Brexiteers of failing to remain impartial during debates.
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Former Conservative attorney-general Dominic Grieve, whom Mr Johnson booted out of the party for voting for the Benn Act, said the route was an option.
Mr Grieve told the Guardian: “Politics is the art of the possible and clearly it’s been my argument for a long time that it would be desirable to have a second referendum and put the options available to the public to resolve the problems we have.”
Mr Corbyn has refused to back the prime minister’s calls to hold a general election in the run up to Christmas.
He has said the only condition on which he would support an election would be if Mr Johnson made “absolutely clear” to Parliament on Monday that he would not take the UK out of the bloc on WTO terms.
Mr Johsnon is unlikely to bow to this demand as the EU27 are not expected to give an answer on the extension question until after Monday.
The Labour leader said he was seeking this reassurance because “his deal includes the possibility of a no-deal exit”.