Prime Minister Theresa May has successfully navigated a minor Conservative Party rebellion in the House of Commons. Several Tory rebels joined Labour and SNPs in calling for the right to veto theresa May’s final Brexit plan before it is signed off by the European Union to be added as an amendment to the Brexit bill, but that didn't change the outcome of the vote.
A comfortable victory for May
In the end, as expected, May’s victory was comfortable. The House of Commons voted 326 to 293 in favour of not adding the amendment, with a seven Conservative MPs voting against the party.
Several Tory MPs abstained from the vote, but there was not nearly enough rebellion for the vote to be a close run affair.
Notable names who defied Theresa May’s whip were former cabinet ministers Claire Perry, Anna Soubry and Bob Neill. They joined vehemently pro-European Union MP Ken Clarke in voting for the amendment. Hitherto, May has been able to quash minor rebellions within her party-yesterday, seven Labour MPs voted with Theresa May to cancel out the largely symbolic act of defiance.
Today's debate
Today, guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals living in the United Kingdom will be debated in prlament. Again, the government is confident that they can pass the Brexit bill without any amendments.
Yesterday, Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn imposed a three-line whip on his party to vote in favour of the final version of the Brexit bill, regardless of whether it has amendments added.
Corbyn’s insistence on issuing a three-line whip is a catch 22: although Corbyn will win favour with those that voted to leave the European Union on 23rd June, he risks alienating both those that voted remain-who now have minimal representation in parliament-and integral front benchers.
Diane Abbott, who missed the vote on the first reading of the Brexit bill citing a migraine, and Clive Lewis have publicly stated that they are conflicted over voting against their constituents that voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. After losing three front benchers in the past ten days, Corbyn finds himself fighting to keep his party in order over an issue that is not going away any time soon.
