UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces one of his biggest days in Parliament since taking office in October, as he puts his new Brexit deal to a vote in the House of Commons for the first time on Wednesday.
(Bloomberg) — UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces one of his biggest days in Parliament since taking office in October, as he puts his new Brexit deal to a vote in the House of Commons for the first time on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, his predecessor and former boss Boris Johnson will give evidence to a panel that’s seeking to establish whether he deliberately lied to lawmakers over “Partygate,” a series of lockdown-busting gatherings in Downing Street during the pandemic.
That hearing by the Privileges Committee is set to be punctuated by the vote on a key part of Sunak’s Brexit deal, in which Johnson — who sees Sunak as having been instrumental in his downfall last year — has said he’ll oppose the government. Sunak’s immediate predecessor, Liz Truss and the Tory Party’s main Brexiteer caucus also oppose the deal.
The day has the potential to cement Sunak’s growing reputation of being able to solve thorny problems, and also to kill off any lingering hopes Johnson has of returning to power.
Key Developments
- Boris Johnson and Liz Truss say they’ll vote against the government’s new Brexit arrangements
- The House of Commons Privileges Committee publishes evidence it will rely on in its probe into Johnson
- Privileges Committee begins at 2 p.m. Brexit deal vote expected at 2.15 p.m.
- Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party has said it’ll oppose Sunak’s Brexit deal
Tory Brexiteer Group Recommends Opposing Deal (11:35 a.m.)
The European Research Group — the main Brexiteer caucus within the ruling Conservatives — recommended to members that they should oppose the government in Wednesday’s vote.
Just over 30 ERG members were present at a meeting Wednesday morning in which the group’s officers made the recommendation, Chairman Mark Francois told reporters. “No one said we should not,” he said. “It remains a decision for each individual.”
The size of the attendance and the earlier remarks by Truss and Johnson suggest that Sunak — who has a 66-strong House of Commons working majority — may be left to rely on opposition votes to get his motion past the chamber.
Johnson Allies Take to Twitter (10:55 a.m.)
Boris Johnson allies have taken to Twitter this morning in what looks like a co-ordinated campaign, with one Tory MP Scott Benton, describing the hearing as a “circus.”
Eleven Conservative MPs including former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have publicly declared they will vote against Sunak’s Stormont Brake at around 2:15 p.m. Ministers urged them to think again.
“Johnson has got a choice,” Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker told reporters. He “can be remembered for the great acts of statecraft that he achieved or he can risk looking like a pound-shop Nigel Farage.”
Committee Publishes Lines of Inquiry (9:09 a.m.)
The House of Commons Committee of Privileges published a selection of evidence it’ll rely on in Wednesday’s hearing with Johnson. They include quotes by the former prime minister in public press conferences urging the public to follow the Covid-19 rules, photos of gatherings in Downing Street, and written evidence from officials.
Quotes singled out include written evidence from unnamed No. 10 officials describing one gathering as “4-5 deep” and another citing remarks allegedly made by Johnson himself about “probably the most unsocially distanced gathering in the UK right now.”
Truss Joins Johnson in Opposing New EU Agreement (8:50 a.m.)
Liz Truss — who was prime minister for just seven weeks between the tenures of Johnson and Sunak — said in a statement that she, too, will vote against the government’s new Brexit arrangements.
While the opposition of his two immediate predecessors is a blow to Sunak and presages a wider Tory rebellion, it’s not entirely unexpected, and the premier is still likely to win the vote because the main opposition Labour Party has said its Members of Parliament will back the government approach.
Johnson to Oppose Sunak’s Brexit Deal (Earlier)
Boris Johnson said he’ll vote against the government
on Wednesday because Sunak’s new deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements because of his assessment that either Northern Ireland would remain “captured by the EU legal order” or that the whole of the UK would be “unable properly to diverge” from the bloc’s rules.
“That is not acceptable,” Johnson said in a statement. He said the best approach would be to pursue legislation the government introduced into Parliament when he was prime minister that sought to override large parts of the Brexit deal he had reached with the EU.
Commons Set to Vote on Part of New Brexit Deal (Earlier)
The vote on Wednesday afternoon is not on the whole deal brokered by Sunak with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last month, but rather only on a key component, the so-called Stormont Brake, a proposed veto mechanism for Northern Ireland’s politicians to reject new EU rules.
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