Brexit news latest: Remainer MPs 'to push for second referendum next week'

Luke O'Reilly26 October 2019
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Remainer MPs are set to push for a second referendum as early as next week, it has been reported.

According to The Guardian, several Remainer MPs have indicated they will try to take control of the Commons agenda and allow Parliament to vote on a second referendum.

In order to achieve this, the MPs would try to use procedure under standing order 24 to take control of the timetable.

Standing order 24 allows MPs to introduce an emergency debate into the timetable - though they would need the Commons to agree to the debate.

If the MPs are successful, it is believed they would attempt to introduce either Boris Johnson's or Theresa May's Brexit deal, with an intended vote on adding a second referendum.

It comes as deliberations in Brussels over a Brexit delay have continued into the weekend.

After a meeting of European Union ambassadors on Friday, a Brussels source said there was "full agreement on the need for an extension" and that "work will continue over the weekend".

A final decision on whether they will opt for an extension until January or a shorter November delay - thought to be favoured by French president Emmanuel Macron - is not expected until Monday or Tuesday.

EU leaders have indicated they will hold off on deciding on a Brexit delay until after the Commons has voted on Boris Johnson's call to hold a snap election 
AP

The weekend talks are likely to be coloured by a leaked document, seen by the Financial Times, that indicates the government could look to diverge away from the bloc's rules on workers' rights and environmental protections after Brexit.

There are fears in some quarters of the EU - and especially in Berlin - that Boris Johnson is preparing to reform Britain into "Singapore-on-Thames": a low-tax, lightly regulated economy on the edge of Europe, once it has left.

According to the FT's report, the leaked Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) document said the way the political declaration - the agreement setting out the aims of the future trade negotiations between the UK and the EU - had drafted the workers' rights and environmental protection commitments left "room for interpretation".

Mr Johnson this week told MPs the UK was committed to "the highest possible standards" on both sets of standards - a stance that helped to convince 19 Labour MPs to back his Withdrawal Agreement Bill at second reading on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson - In pictures

PMQ session in London
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The document is said to boast that "UK negotiators successfully resisted the inclusion of all UK-wide level playing-field rules" in the previous deal negotiated by Theresa May's team, allowing Britain to compete against EU members by possibly watering down rights.

Labour shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman said the documents, which reportedly had Downing Street input, "confirm our worst fears".

She said: "Boris Johnson's Brexit is a blueprint for a deregulated economy, which will see vital rights and protections torn up."

The Prime Minister visited a hospital on Friday and used interviews afterwards to call on opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to "man up" and agree to a general election.

It follows the Conservative Party leader announcing on Thursday that he was prepared to give MPs more time to debate his Brexit deal in exchange for their support for a winter election on December 12.

Mr Corbyn has so far said Labour is waiting to see the result of the EU's decision regarding the length of an Article 50 extension before clarifying whether he would whip MPs to back a fresh poll.

But senior figures in the party have urged him to deny Mr Johnson and instead continue to push for a second referendum and for a no-deal Brexit to be removed as an option.

Both Tony Blair, a former Prime Minister who won three general elections, and London mayor Sadiq Khan called for him to stand firm.

Mr Blair said Labour could not trust Mr Johnson not to push through a no-deal Brexit and should withhold permission for an election while the PM is void of a majority.

Mr Khan, speaking to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, encouraged Mr Corbyn to be "braver" and start telling Leave voters they were "wrong".

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson's advisers will be hoping he is easier to deal with in any future election, in the winter or otherwise, than his predecessor.

According to historian Sir Anthony Seldon's new biography "May At 10", Mrs May was "surly" and a "terrible campaigner" during the 2017 snap election she called, even requiring a full-time "minder".

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