Today’s debate in Parliament focused on whether the Government should now seek an extension of Article 50, following the House voting against the Prime Minister’s deal again on Tuesday and voting on Wednesday to reject leaving with no deal.
Labour recognise that due to the Government’s failure in negotiations, an extension of Article 50 is now inevitable.
For that reason, the official opposition tabled an amendment calling for an extension in order to prevent the UK leaving the EU with no deal and to allow parliamentary time to find a different approach which commands a majority in the House of Commons.
Responding to the debate and votes, Stephen Morgan MP said:
“The only reason the House debated the extension of Article 50 is because of the appalling mess the Government has made of the Brexit negotiations. With days left until the 29 March deadline, extension is not a choice, but a necessity.
Tonight I voted for that extension. I will continue to put party politics to one side, and put our city and country first, in finding a consensus for the way forward”.
On a public vote the city MP noted the statement by the People’s Vote Campaign which states:
“We do not think today is the right time to test the will of the House on the case for a new public vote. Instead, this is the time for Parliament to declare it wants an extension of Article 50 so that, after two-and-a-half years of vexed negotiations, our political leaders can finally decide on what Brexit means.
That is because a People’s Vote is not just another option in this Brexit crisis – it is a solution to this crisis. When the real costs of Brexit are measured up against the broken promises made for it in 2016, we believe Parliament will have better opportunities to decide it is only fair and reasonable to give the public a real say on this crucial decision for our country.”
After co-signing a letter with other Members of Parliament to renew support for a people’s vote, Stephen Morgan MP added:
“We are all deeply committed to securing a People’s Vote. But to win that vote, we need to win a vote in the House of Commons.
The best chance of that is via the so-called Kyle/Wilson amendment, which isn’t being voted on today.
The official People’s Vote campaign has said this isn’t the right time. And Peter Kyle MP and Phil Wilson MP have asked us to abstain on amendment (h).
That’s because we know amendment (h) won’t pass today and we need to bring colleagues who have concerns about a People’s Vote with us as we move towards voting for Kyle/Wilson.
We will have the opportunity to vote for Kyle/Wilson and to secure a People’s Vote within a matter of days.
On this occasion, we are therefore agreeing to abstain on amendment (h) today to give us the highest chance possible of securing a People’s Vote via the Kyle/Wilson amendment.
In addition, if amendment (h) passes today it has been confirmed that this will knock out the amendment from Hilary Benn MP securing the extension to Article 50 that we must win today.
Some of us have campaigned for a People’s Vote before the campaign even came into existence. Many of us have broken our party whips to get us this far.
We hope our supporters outside of the House of Commons today trust our political judgment so that, together, we can win the votes required to secure the People’s Vote we all want”.
