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Parliament cannot hijack Brexit, says British minister Fox

January 20, 2019
 Keir Starmer, Britain’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, appears on BBC TV’s The Andrew Marr Show in London, Sunday. — Reuters
Keir Starmer, Britain’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, appears on BBC TV’s The Andrew Marr Show in London, Sunday. — Reuters

LONDON — Britain’s parliament has no right to try to “hijack the Brexit process”, Trade Minister Liam Fox said on Sunday, after several lawmakers indicated they were launching attempts to take more control over the departure from the European Union.

“Parliament has not got the right to hijack the Brexit process because parliament said to the people of this country: ‘we make a contract with you, you will make the decision and we will honor it’,” Fox told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

“What we are now getting are some of those who were always absolutely opposed to the result of the referendum trying to hijack Brexit and in effect steal the result from the people.”

There are various backbench moves to prevent Britain leaving the European Union without a deal on 29 March.

Labor’s Sir Keir Starmer said Prime Minister Theresa May should rule out a no-deal Brexit.

He said he believed it was “inevitable” that Article 50 will be delayed and that events in parliament last week — when MPs heavily rejected the withdrawal deal May has negotiated with the EU — mean that a second referendum is now more likely.

He told the BBC the prime minister must also change her “red lines” adding: “If she won’t, it’s difficult to see where we go from here.”

Downing Street said Sunday that eported plots for parliament to seize control from the government over Brexit were “extremely concerning”.

It blasted reported moves by lawmakers seeking to rewrite the rules of the House of Commons in an attempt to take control of the business of the lower chamber in order to frustrate May’s Brexit plans.

Groups of MPs are planning to table such amendments this week, newspapers reported Sunday.

“The British public voted to leave the European Union and it is vital that elected politicians deliver upon that verdict,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

“Any attempt to remove the government’s power to meet the legal conditions of an orderly exit at this moment of historic significance is extremely concerning.

“This news should serve as a reminder to those MPs who want to deliver Brexit that they need to vote for it — otherwise there is a danger that parliament could stop Brexit.”

May is due to spell out to lawmakers on Monday what her plans are now for Brexit following MPs’ overwhelming rejection of the divorce deal agreed between London and Brussels.

Lawmakers are set to table a series of various Brexit amendments this week to test their support in the Commons.

Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan told Sky News the law would have to be changed if the UK was to be prevented from leaving the EU without a deal in place on 29 March — and that is where the “very short” bill she is backing came in. But she said that to describe the move as a “coup” was “overblown”:

She said: “It’s a strange sort of coup that starts with a whole bunch of democratically elected members of Parliament.”

— Agencies

She conceded it was “unprecedented for backbenchers’ business to take precedence over government business” but said it was confined to one issue — Brexit.

According to the Sunday Times, backbench Tory Remainer Dominic Grieve has also been drafting a motion, with the express intention of extending Article 50.


January 20, 2019
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