May gives parliament votes on delaying Brexit

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that if her Brexit deal is defeated in parliament next month, she will give MPs two further votes to decide what to do next.

The pound rocketed to its highest against the euro since May 2017, up 1.2% to 1.1666, and also spiked up 1.3% versus the dollar to a 1.3269, around the highest since September.

May updated the House of Commons on Tuesday after a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street with Brexit as the sole agenda item.

Her original Brexit deal was in January rejected by the biggest margin in parliamentary history. On the weekend the prime minister said MPs would have the opportunity to vote on it again by 12 March, a little more than two weeks before the UK is due to leave the European Union.

If the government loses this 12 March vote, May said there will then be a vote on 13 March to ask MPs if they want to leave the European Union without a deal. If that is rejected, the following day they will be asked if the UK’s departure – currently slated for 29 March – should be delayed.

Hours after May tabled her latest offer, government documents were released warning that the economy would be 6%- 9% smaller over the next 15 years in the event of no deal, the flow of goods through the critical port of Dover would be “very significantly reduced for months” and food prices could increase with shortages cause by panic buying.

Tory MP Oliver Letwin and Labour's Yvette Cooper, who have tabled an amendment on Wednesday in order to prevent a no-deal, confirmed that even though May had conceded to "most" of the intentions of their amendment, they still intended to put it to a vote in order to avoid a June cliff edge.

Downing Street does not want a lengthy delay as any extension beyond the end of June would involve the UK taking part in the European parliament elections.

THREAT OF MINISTERIAL REVOLT SWAYS MAY

The prime minister's volte-face came after pressure from ministers Richard Harrington, Claire Perry and Margot James that they would resign unless May ruled out a no-deal scenario if her plan was rejected again, and found a way to delay the Brexit process,

They made it clear that if she did not cave in to their demands they would resign and back the Cooper-Letwin amendment.

Three other senior cabinet ministers, Greg Clark, Amber Rudd and David Gauke, last week said they could also be prepared to vote for the amendment.

The Labour leadership said it would support the Cooper-Letwin amendment, after pressure from its own members to take a tougher stand on Brexit, even though leader Jeremy Corbyn is in favour of leaving.

Corbyn will table his own Brexit plan on Wednesday to a "comprehensive customs union" and "close alignment" with the EU's single market - before the Commons.

If it fails he has agreed reluctantly, and after lobbying from his own party, to support calls for a second referendum on EU membership.

The bleak government assessment of the no-deal impact found that customs checks could cost business £13bn a year in a no-deal scenario and warned that there was "little evidence that businesses are preparing in earnest".

"One of the most visible ways in which the UK would be affected by delays in goods crossing the Channel is our food supply, 30% of which comes from the EU," it stated.

"This would not lead to an overall shortage of food in the UK, and less than one in 10 food items would be directly affected by any delays across the short Channel crossings. However, at the time of year we will be leaving the EU, the UK is particularly reliant on the short Channel crossings for fresh fruit and vegetables."

"In the absence of other action from government, some food prices are likely to increase, and there is a risk that consumer behaviour could exacerbate, or create, shortages in this scenario.

"As of February 2019, many businesses in the food supply industry are unprepared for a no-deal scenario."