No Brexit now closer than ever – Dudley MP Mike Wood
The UK is now "closer than ever" to staying in the EU in what would be an "enormous betrayal" of the public, an MP has warned.
Mike Wood said he feared that Parliament would end up revoking Article 50 after Theresa May was granted an extra two weeks to come up with a Brexit solutionfollowing talks with EU leaders.
As part of the new agreement Britain will leave the EU on May 22 if Mrs May can get her withdrawal deal through Parliament next week, but if the deal fails again she will have to propose an alternative way forward to Brussels by April 12.
European Council President Donald Tusk said all Brexit options remained open– including "a deal, no deal, a long extension or revoking Article 50".
Mrs May has ruled out revoking Article 50, but Eurosceptic Dudley South MP Mr Wood said that the lack of consensus in the Commons over the way forward meant that "no Brexit" had become a distinct possibility.
'Opportunity of a generation'
"If Parliament is not willing to vote for the deal that we already have then we need to come up with something new in the next fortnight, and I really don't think that is going to happen," said Mr Wood, who has reluctantly backed the Prime Minister's deal despite concerns over the Irish backstop.
"The deal that is on the table means that the Government will be delivering on the result of the referendum.
"But there is now a genuine fear that Parliament will end up revoking Article 50. We are closer than ever to a situation where Brexit won't happen at all and we will have lost the opportunity of a generation.
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"It would be an enormous betrayal, not just of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit, but of everyone who took part in the largest democratic process in British history.
"I am getting people telling me they voted Remain, but who believe it would be outrageous if Parliament were to ignore the result of the referendum.
"If you look at the position we are in now, we have some MPs saying we need to vote down the deal so we can leave without a deal, and others wanting to vote it down in the hope that we can stay in the EU.
"Both sides can't possibly be right."
Meaningful votes
The UK's departure from the EU is still written into law as March 29, although the Government will table secondary legislation to remove that date early next week.
As yet no date has been scheduled for a third meaningful vote on the Government's Brexit deal, which has been defeated twice by margins of 230 and 149.
Commons Speaker John Bercow has ruled that the deal put forward must be "substantially different" from what has been previously voted on, although Downing Street today said it was confident it would go to the vote.
Tory Brexiteer Michael Fabricant expressed disappointment over the extension, saying: "Even the Bank of England now say that a 'no deal' Brexit is workable given the tranche of legislation that has been passed since November on both sides of the Channel."
In an apparent reference to the Prime Minister's negotiating skills, he added: "At this difficult time we need a Churchill, not a Chamberlain."
Frustration
Mrs May was due to meet with Cabinet ministers today and was expected to spend the weekend locked away in her Chequers retreat finalising her plans.
She has also addressed the furious response from MPs to her Downing Street speech on Wednesday, in which she sought to pit Parliament against the public in an apparent attempt to break the Brexit deadlock.
"I expressed my frustration and I know that MPs are frustrated too," she said. "They have difficult jobs to do.
"I hope that we can all agree we are now at the moment of decision. And I will make every effort to ensure that we are able to leave with a deal and move our country forward."
Wolverhampton North East Labour MP Emma Reynolds called on Mrs May to "have the courage" to allow MPs to vote on "the different options for our relationship with EU", rather than "another re-run of her botched deal or no deal".
"She will go down as one of worst Prime Ministers in history," Ms Reynolds added.
The Government has pledged to offer Parliament indicative votes on aspects of Brexit, but only if Mrs May's deal fails next week.
