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May Plans to Step Down Once Divorce Deal Agreed: Brexit Update

Theresa May’s Brexit deal is finally winning a bit of support from Conservative hardliners.

May Plans to Step Down Once Divorce Deal Agreed: Brexit Update
Theresa May, U.K. prime minister, departs following an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers at number 10 Downing Street in London, U.K. (Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Theresa May told a meeting of her Conservative Party she plans to step down once Brexit is delivered. Pro-Brexit lawmakers had called on May to set a date for her departure as way of securing support for her divorce agreement with Brussels.

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Key Developments:

  • May announces plan to step down in meeting of influential 1922 Committee of Tory MPs
  • May’s aiming for a vote on her deal this week, with Friday the likeliest day. While her team says it won’t happen unless she has a good chance of winning, Speaker John Bercow reiterated it can only come back if it’s substantially changed
  • MPs vote on Brexit Plan B options from 7 p.m., with Bercow expected to announce results after 9 p.m.: Read our guide
  • Labour is backing the options of a confirmatory referendum and the so-called Norway Plus option of single-market membership and a customs union

What May Said to Tory Lawmakers (5:45 p.m.)

Theresa May’s office has just released a partial transcript of her speech to rank-and-file Tory lawmakers and she made a very clear commitment to go.

“I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for a new approach -- and new leadership -- in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations – and I won’t stand in the way of that,” she told them. “I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.”

She then said that if they back her deal she will quit.

“I know some people are worried that if you vote for the Withdrawal Agreement, I will take that as a mandate to rush on into phase two without the debate we need to have,” she said. “I won’t -- I hear what you are saying.”

May Plans to Step Down Once Brexit Delivered (5:35 p.m.)

Theresa May told Conservative members of Parliament she will stand down once Brexit is delivered, according to people in the room including MPs James Cartlidge and Simon Hart.

May said she seeks an “orderly handover” and that “she’s got the message,” Hart said. Another Tory MP said she had told them she would leave earlier than she had intended. Pro-Brexit lawmakers had called on May to set a date for her departure as way of securing support for her Brexit deal, which her office has said she plans to put to another vote this week.

May Addresses Tory MPs (5:15 a.m.)

Theresa May received the traditional welcome of cheering and banging on desks when she entered Committee Room 14 deep inside Parliament to address the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers.

The room itself is packed with Tories wanting to hear what May says. At least two ministers were unable to get in, with one Cabinet minister forced to stand outside with an ear pressed against the door.

Parliament Could Sit on Friday for Vote (4:30 p.m.)

The government will start proceedings later today for Parliament to sit on Friday to enable May’s Brexit deal to be put to MPs for a vote for the third time, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told the House of Commons.

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom will confirm Thursday morning whether the government wants go ahead with the vote, Barclay said. As the House wasn’t scheduled to sit on Friday, the government needs to propose a motion, which it will do this evening, to require MPs to stay in Westminster in case she does, he said.

Under the plans set out by the EU last week, Parliament must approve May’s deal by the end of this week if the U.K. is to leave the bloc with an agreement on May 22.

The Hunt is On For Loopholes in Bercow Ruling (4.15 p.m.)

Parliamentary procedure experts are already discussing how the government could get around Speaker John Bercow’s ruling on another vote on May’s deal (see 3:30). Nikki da Costa, who used to advise May on exactly such questions, said on Twitter that proroguing Parliament -- ending the current session and starting a new one -- is a possible route.

Jack Simson Caird, senior research fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, had a simpler solution. “Bring forward a motion tomorrow or Friday to approve the Withdrawal Agreement only’’ and “set out the government is committed to deliver the option on the Future Relationship that the majority of MPs can support through the votes on Monday,” he wrote on Twitter. He said this would pass Bercow’s “substantial change’’ test.

Starmer: Labour Backs Public Vote, Customs Union (4:05 p.m.)

Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer just confirmed to the House of Commons that his party will be whipping its lawmakers to support options J, K and M – the proposals to stay in a customs union with the EU, stay in a customs union and retain close ties to the single market, and to hold a referendum to approve any withdrawal deal agreed by Parliament.

“It’s now clear that any Brexit deal agreed in this Parliament needs further democratic approval,” Starmer said. Amendment M “would ensure that any Tory Brexit deal is subject to a referendum lock.’’

Starmer also said that while the party “has reservations” about motion D -- the Norway plus option -- “it is credible and it is deliverable,’’ and so Labour is recommending that MPs support it so that it remains in play as an option.

Bercow Derails Plan for Third Vote on Deal (3.30p.m.)

Theresa May’s hopes of bringing her Withdrawal Agreement back for a third attempt this week have been hampered by Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow.

He just told the Commons that he expects the government to stick to its undertaking that it wouldn’t bring the vote back again unless the agreement was substantially changed.

And he said he’d instructed Commons staff not to accept any motions that the government put down to try to change the rules. This was a referee announcing that his decision was final.

Bercow Selects 8 Brexit Options for Debate (3:25 p.m.)

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow selected eight motions on different Brexit models for debate, including the options for a Norway plus-style relationship, and for a referendum on any deal.

Proposers have until 4 p.m. to inform the speaker if they want their motion to go to a vote or not, and at that point, ballot papers will be printed. Lawmakers can vote for as many as they choose. The options selected are:

  • B – calling for a no-deal Brexit on April 12.
  • D – Norway Plus: calling for the U.K. to stay in the European Economic Area and rejoin the European Free Trade Association, while also adding a “comprehensive customs arrangement”
  • H – The same as D, but without the customs arrangement
  • J – Calling for the U.K. to stay in a permanent customs union with the EU
  • K – Labour’s proposal for a withdrawal agreement plus a customs union and close alignment to the single market
  • L -- Calling for a confirmatory vote in Parliament if the U.K. gets to within 2 days of a no-deal Brexit
  • M -- Saying no withdrawal deal should be agreed unless first approved by the public in second referendum
  • O – calling for a standstill agreement with EU while a broader trade agreement negotiated

Letwin Plays Down Chances of Outright Winner (2:40 p.m.)

Oliver Letwin, the architect of the proceedings for MPs to consider options for Brexit, played down the chances of their being a majority for any of the alternatives voted on tonight.

May Plans to Step Down Once Divorce Deal Agreed: Brexit Update

“We all recognize there’s unlikely to be a majority for one proposition or other, therefore we should regard this as a process rather than a single point in time,’’ Letwin said. Politicians “often discover there’s a basis for compromise and discussion offline that can lead to the crystallization of majorities,’’ he said.

Letwin said he’s asking for Monday to be set aside for another round of debate so discussions can be held over the weekend to try to find a compromise proposition that would win a majority.

Tories Free to Vote As They Wish - Except Cabinet (1.30 p.m.)

Conservative MPs have been told there’s no whip on this evening’s votes on Brexit options in the House of Commons, but that members of the Cabinet will abstain, according to Tory MP James Cartlidge.

That avoids the embarrassment of a large pro-Brexit rebellion from May’s backbenches, and the difficulty of ministers needing to resign to vote for a closer relationship with the EU.

Labour Said to Back Referendum, Norway Plus (1 p.m.)

Labour lawmakers have been instructed to support a referendum on the deal and an agreement with the EU based on an enhanced version of Norway’s relationship with the bloc in the Brexit debate on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the party’s plans.

MPs have been told to back a proposal for Common Market 2.0 , also known as Norway Plus (D); one instructing the government to seek a customs union with the EU (F); One calling for a permanent customs union with the bloc (J); One, proposed by the Labour leadership, calling for close alignment (K); and one calling for a referendum to approve any withdrawal agreement (M), the person said.

May Insists Brexit Delay Law Must Go Through (12:35)

May clashed with veteran euroskeptic Bill Cash in the House of Commons over the legality of the delay to the U.K.’s departure from the EU, which is due to be passed into British law by a vote of MPs this afternoon.

The prime minister said that the delay “is a matter of international law’’ since she struck an agreement with the EU last week. If the “statutory instrument” confirming it as British legislation isn’t passed by Parliament “there’ll be severe uncertainty for citizens and businesses,’’ she told him. It is due to be voted on at 9 p.m.

May Hints There Will be Vote on Deal This Week (12:05 p.m.)

Theresa May hinted there will be a vote on her divorce deal with the EU this week.

Answering a question in the House of Commons from a hardline anti-EU lawmaker, May said “we can guarantee delivering on Brexit if this week he and others in this house support the deal.’’

The government believes that opposition to the deal is softening and has said it wants to bring it back for another vote this week, but May’s words suggest it is increasingly a possibility.

DUP Won’t Pay Backstop Price for Brexit (11:50 a.m.)

The DUP is moving back to center stage again, with some Brexiteers saying they’ll only back Theresa May’s deal if her Northern Irish allies are on board. For now, that prospect seems remote, according to Diane Dodds, the party’s only member of the European Parliament.

Unionists aren’t willing to pay the “price” of accepting the backstop to achieve Brexit, said Dodds, the wife of Nigel Dodds -- a key DUP player at Westminster. Her speech in Strasbourg seems to undermine speculation that the DUP’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson was not talking for the party on Tuesday when he ruled out backing May’s deal in its current form.

ConservativeHome Urges MPs to Back May’s Deal (10:25 a.m.)

ConservativeHome, an influential website that’s been critical of May’s Brexit deal, called on members of Parliament to vote for her agreement divorce agreement with Brussels as the least-bad option.

May’s deal is preferable to allowing members of Parliament, led by Tory Oliver Letwin, to force the U.K. into an even closer relationship with the bloc, it said.

“The deal of the Prime Minister in Name Only is better than that of the Prime Minister in All But Name,” it writes.

Barnier Says All Options Open Until April 12 (10:15 a.m.)

All options remain open for the U.K. until April 12, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, told the European Parliament. This includes the possibility of staying in the bloc, he said.

Last week’s EU summit decision was meant to ensure the U.K. would “shoulder its own responsibilities,” Barnier said. “It’s up to Britain to decide, one way or the other.”

Barnier reiterated that the EU wanted to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, but added that controls would have to take place “somewhere.”

Tusk: EU Must Stand Up for Brits in Bloc (8:50 a.m.)

European Union President Donald Tusk appealed to lawmakers across the bloc not to shut the door to British citizens who want to remain in the EU. Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tusk said it was “unacceptable” to think otherwise.

“You can not betray the six million people who signed a petition to revoke Article 50, the one million people who marched for a people’s vote, or the increasing majority of people who want to remain in the European Union,” he told members of the EU parliament. “They may feel they are not sufficiently represented by the U.K. Parliament, but they must feel that they are represented by you in this chamber -- because they are Europeans.”

Tusk said that options remain open for the U.K. to decide by April 12 -- a deal, no deal, a long extension or revoking the decision to leave.

Government Undecided on Plan B Whipping (8:40 a.m.)

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom said the prime minister and her chief whip still hadn’t made a decision on whether they would require ministers to vote in line with government policy during today’s so-called indicative votes on Plan B options for Brexit.

Pro-EU ministers including Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd have been pushing for a free votes, warning May could see a raft of resignations unless they’re granted.

Leadsom Supports May to Deliver Brexit (8.30 a.m)

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom said she wants Theresa May to stay on as prime minister to take the U.K. out of the European Union, but wouldn’t be drawn on whether the premier should continue after that.

Asked repeatedly on BBC Radio 4 about whether May should announce her departure date when she addresses the Conservative Party lawmakers this afternoon, Leadsom said it was a matter for the prime minister.

“I’m fully supporting the prime minister to get us out of the European Union, that’s all I can speak for,” Leadsom said.

Earlier:

--With assistance from Thomas Penny, Jessica Shankleman, Dara Doyle and Ian Wishart.

To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net;Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net;Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Emma Ross-Thomas at erossthomas@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Stuart Biggs

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