Eleven pro-Remain MPs (eight Labour and three Conservative) have left their respective parties this week and will sit as a group of independent MPs in the House of Commons. Though they have made their decision for a number of reasons, one issue that unites them all is their opposition to Brexit and, in particular, a disorderly ‘no deal’ exit from the EU.
There are strong indications that other MPs will join them in time, and it is entirely possible that the group will become a formal political party with a full policy agenda later this year.
The Prime Minister responded to the Conservative defection by insisting that the government was honouring the result of the EU referendum. Meanwhile, Labour leadership has insisted that a second referendum, which most of the newly independent MPs support, remains a policy option and could be tabled as an amendment vote on 27 February.
Amid the internal fractures back at Westminster, senior UK ministers and officials are continuing to visit Brussels and other European capitals for talks on how to break the backstop impasse. On Wednesday 20 February, Theresa May presented new proposals to the EU intended to provide legal assurances that the UK would not permanently bound to the customs union.
The UK government has been forced to drop the ‘Malthouse compromise’. This was floated as a solution which espoused a free trade agreement with technology being used to carry out customs checks to avoid the creation of a hard border in Ireland. It has been rejected because of the lack of certainty over when and if the technology can be devised and the logistics of how it might operate.
The UK Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, is now focused on securing a ‘codicil’ that would allow the UK to pull out of the backstop arrangement unilaterally with 12 months’ notice. However, this is likely to be seen by the EU as contradictory to the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement and rejected on that basis. Equally, anything short of a legal guarantee that the backstop will not be time limited is likely to be dismissed by Brexiteers and the DUP, a response that would effectively kill off any chance of a deal being struck by 29 March.
In this context and with no deal still a distinct possibility, the recent parliamentary defections might be seen as the first move in a concerted attempt to stop Brexit happening at all.
