London: The Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, is of the opinion that British Prime Minister Theresa May could hold a third vote on her twice defeated Brexit deal if she agrees to the terms of an article 50 extension with the EU. He believes that would satisfy the objections of the House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow.
Theresa May will chair Cabinet on Tuesday after she was forced to pull any immediate plans for another meaningful vote because Bercow said she could not ask MPs to pass the same deal, after they rejected it twice by huge margins.
The PM may have to go to Thursday’s Brussels summit to request a long extension to Article 50, which could mean the UK has to spend more than £100m on participating in European parliamentary elections.
Barclay, who voted against a motion for an extension to article 50 in the free vote last week, was silent on whether he will now vote for a longer extension. “I don’t think my constituents want to see a long delay to Brexit. I think they will find it extremely frustrating three years after voting to leave,” he told a radio programme.
Barclay suggested MPs will have something different to consider, which can satisfy Bercow’s ruling, including the possibility of an article 50 extension agreed at the EU council this week and any new deal struck with the Democratic Unionist party to get its support.
The vote may already have been all but lost. Sources said on Monday that the DUP was unlikely to strike an agreement with May’s government to support her withdrawal deal before Thursday’s crunch meeting with EU leaders.
Cabinet ministers had suggested over the weekend that May could have decided herself not to hold the vote without a realistic prospect of success.
Barclay said the talks had been “very constructive” but declined to go into specifics. “There’s a lot to achieve beyond Brexit, challenges in Northern Ireland where it’s important we raise productivity and support that part of the economy,” he said.
