Doubt has been raised over whether MPs will get a vote on the outcome of Brexit trade talks, after Downing Street refused to confirm that the result would be put before the House of Commons.
Time is running out for any parliamentary vote before the deadline for the transition to post-Brexit arrangements on 31 December. No date has yet been set for the Commons to break up for the Christmas recess, but this would normally be expected to happen by around 22 December.
Boris Johnson has previously indicated he expects MPs to vote on a deal, but his official spokesman repeatedly refused at a Westminster media briefing today to say whether this would happen before the results of the negotiation come into effect.
Asked 11 times whether any vote or other parliamentary process would take place to ratify a deal, the spokesman said only that Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg would set out the position “in due course”.
With just 17 days left before the UK is due to leave the EU’s single market and customs union the PM’s spokesman rejected suggestions that it was too late for MPs to be given an opportunity to vote on any deal.
“We are confident that there is time to do whatever we need to do in parliament,” he said. “We have seen parliament at at pace previously where required.”
And he said that he understood that, if no free trade agreement was secured, the UK would simply move onto World Trade Organisation terms in a no-deal Brexit without any requirement for MPs to approve the change.
Pressed on whether ratification would require primary legislation or a simple motion in the Commons or could be enacted by the prime minister alone using the royal prerogative, the spokesman said only: “I’m not going to pre-empt the business of the House. We will set out the business of the House in the usual way in due course.”
After repeatedly refusing to confirm that MPs will get a say, the spokesman was asked whether Downing Street was not guaranteeing a vote.
“I didn’t say that,” he replied. “I just made the clear point that it’s for the Leader of the House to set out the business of the House in the usual way.”
An attempt to secure a legal requirement for a Commons vote on any trade deal by inserting a clause into the Trade Bill was defeated by the government in July.
Downing Street said a no-deal Brexit was a “possible” outcome from the EU trade talks, signalling that there had been some improvement since Boris Johnson said it was the “most likely” scenario on Sunday.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Obviously no-deal is a possible outcome, as the Prime Minister has said himself. “But we have been clear that we will continue to work and hope to reach a free trade agreement.”
