Wednesday 12 October 2016

Have all 'remain' MPs been asleep over Brexit threat to Parliamentary democracy?


Conservative brexiteer, Stephen Phillips MP, made an interesting argument  in support of Parliamentary accountability of Brexit (“Gagging parliament on Brexit is a breach of our constitution,” 12 October, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/11/we-voted-brexit-keep-parliament-sovereign-wont-be-gagged )
In parliament on Monday and Wednesday many MPs – Mr Philips, Nick Clegg (LibDem), Andrew Tyrie (Tory), and Ed Miliband (Labour), to name but a few- stood up and demanded Parliament have its rightful say on the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU, especially as one of the key arguments put forward by the Brexiteers was to  restore sovereignty of the British Parliament to make decisions.
One week after the Brexit referendum, at the end of June, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP tabled the following Early Day Motion calling for this very thing:

“That this House believes the next steps arising from the outcome of the EU referendum must be subject to proper parliamentary scrutiny and therefore that the Government should not submit its declaration to the European Council invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty unless and until the full proposals it intends to submit to the Commission to activate the process of withdrawal from the EU are debated in full and voted upon by Parliament” ( EDM 269; http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2016-17/269)
Yet only 18 MPs backed theEDM, but none of those complaining this week did. I wonder why not.

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