PRO-REMAIN Speaker John Bercow today derailed Theresa May's Brexit plan – banning the PM from holding a repeat Commons vote on her deal this week.

In a bombshell statement, the Commons boss said the Government can't simply ask MPs to vote again on the deal after it was defeated last Tuesday.

He warned Mrs May that if she wants to hold a third "meaningful vote" on the withdrawal agreement there must be substantial changes.

The ruling was welcomed by both Remainer MPs and hardline Brexiteers who are keen to kill off the PM's deal for good.

Mrs May was hoping to hold a fresh vote on the deal this week in a last-ditch bid to get it signed off and avoid a long delay to the Brexit process.

Ministers will now scramble to find a legal loophole which could allow them to bring the deal back to the Commons despite Mr Bercow's order.

The Speaker, who is supposed to be impartial but has admitted voting Remain in the EU referendum, insisted his decision follows centuries of precedent saying that the Government can't hold multiple votes on exactly the same motion.

He said: "There has been much speculation over the past week about the possibility of the Government bringing before the house a motion on Brexit for another so-called meaningful vote.

"Members on both sides of the house and indeed on both sides of the Brexit argument have expressed their concerns to me.

"What the Government cannot legitimately do is to resubmit the same proposition, or substantially the same, as that of last week which was rejected by 149 votes."

UNLIKELY ALLIES

Pro-EU opposition leaders and ultra-Brexiteers praised Mr Bercow for his shock intervention.

Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said the ruling makes an "enormous amount of sense", while Remainer Anna Soubry added: "This is what happens when you don't seek compromise and consensus from the beginning."

But May loyalists warned the move would make it easier to overturn Brexit altogether.

Backbench MP Alec Shelbrooke predicted there would now be a long delay to the Article 50 process, adding: "The Speaker has just tried to kill Brexit."

And Robert Halfon asked: "Does this lead to an almighty delay with a second referendum?"

If the PM is permanently banned from holding fresh votes on her deal, the only options left are striking a new deal – which the EU says is impossible – leaving with No Deal, or cancelling Brexit altogether.

But there are a number of procedural tricks the Government could try and deploy if Mrs May is intent on a third meaningful vote.

One option would be to suspend Parliament for two weeks and begin a new Commons "session" with a Queen's Speech.

Source: Read Full Article