Theresa May has refused to say if MPs will be given a vote on the outcome of Britain’s EU negotiations, insisting that she will not allow any opportunity to reverse the referendum result.
Earlier this month David Davis, the Brexit secretary, said it would be inconceivable to deny MPs a vote, given that any deal would have to be approved by the European parliament. Pressed on whether there would be a vote on the final terms of Britain’s exit, Mrs May only conceded that parliament would have “ample opportunity to comment on and discuss the aspects of the arrangements that we are putting in place”.
Mrs May said she had every expectation of securing a positive outcome from the talks, but that the government was looking at all the options on the terms of exit, signalling that the government had contingency plans for a clean break with Brussels. If the two-year Article 50 period ends without a deal, the UK will trade with the EU under the tariffs set by the World Trade Organisation, although the EU can decide to extend the talks.
The Great Repeal Bill, which will transfer EU regulations into British law, would give parliament “every opportunity to have a vote on the various aspects of the relationship that we will be having with the European Union”, Mrs May told a committee of senior MPs.
After Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the liaison committee, attempted to clarify whether Mrs May had given a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ answer to the question of a parliamentary vote, Mrs May replied simply: “I gave the answer I gave.”
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Mr Tyrie said later that he was “surprised that the prime minister was unable to confirm that she would expect parliament to have a vote on the Brexit agreements”, adding: “On that, I agree with the Brexit secretary.”
Mrs May also said for the first time that she wanted to negotiate a trade deal with the EU at the same time as conducting divorce negotiations. The prime minister insisted that it was possible to conclude both sets of talks within the Article 50 timetable.
Under questioning from the committee, made up of the chairmen of all Commons select committees, Mrs May said she would give more details of her plans in the new year but gave little else away. Her most revealing answers were on how the talks would be structured after Article 50 was triggered, beginning the formal process of leaving.
The EU’s negotiators, including Michel Barnier, the lead negotiator, and Guy Verhofstadt, the parliament’s representative, have claimed that any talks about Britain’s economic and trading relations with the remaining 27 countries could have to wait until after its formal exit. Mrs May waved aside those concerns and said that there was a willingness among EU counterparts “to ensure that we can undertake this as smoothly as possible”.
She indicated that she would also ask for an “implementation phase” to allow time for companies in the UK and Europe to make “reasonable practical adjustments”. She has previously told business leaders that she understands their fears of a “cliff edge”.
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There will “of course be a necessity for adjustment to those new arrangements, for implementation of some practical changes that may need to take place in relation to that,” she said.
“They don’t want to wake up one morning having a deal agreed the night before and suddenly discover they have got to do everything in a different way.”
