LABOUR has softened its line on Brexit still further with Jeremy Corbyn calling for the option of pushing back the date of Britain's EU departure.
Theresa May has decided to amend her flagship EU Withdrawal Bill to include the precise date Britain will quit the European Union: March 29 2019.
But during Commons exchanges when the Prime Minister won praise from both Tory Leavers and Remainers on successfully completing the first phase of the EU negotiations, the Labour leader warned the "unnecessary" deadline could force the UK Government to sign up to a withdrawal agreement which damaged the economy.
Noting how the Government originally aimed for phase one negotiations to be completed in October and that it had achieved a “rather fudged agreement late last week,” Mr Corbyn asked: “Has this experience given the Prime Minister reason to consider dropping the unnecessary exit date deadline of March 29 2019 from the EU Withdrawal Bill because I’m sure the whole House and probably the whole country would rather get the best possible deal a little bit later, if that meant a better deal for peoples’ jobs and the economy."
The Prime Minister replied: “We’re leaving the European Union on that date; that is what the British people voted for and that is what this government is going to put in place."
It is thought the two-year Article 50 process could only be extended with the agreement of the EU27.
Meanwhile, in a significant climbdown, the Government accepted changes, that will give MPs greater oversight over ministers' powers.
An amendment to the bill tabled by the cross-party Commons Procedure Committee will stop ministers simply signing changes into law through so-called Henry VIII powers. Instead a “sifting committee" of MPs will decide whether or not statutory instruments proposed by ministers need a Commons vote.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel