A group of British parliamentarians want to force the government to request a postponement of the Brexit. This should prevent the United Kingdom from leaving the European Union without a deal on 12 April.
The initiative is supported by, among others, conservative Lower House member Oliver Letwin and Yvette Cooper from Labor opposition party. They unveiled a bill on Tuesday with which they want to instruct the government to steer for further delay, without directly specifying how long that should be. The other EU member states must therefore also agree to the extension of the Brexit deadline.
“We are in a very dangerous situation. There is a serious and growing risk of leaving without a deal in ten days, “said Labor member Cooper. “We realize that this is difficult. But it is certainly worth trying, “concluded Letwin.
The plan is expected to be discussed in the Lower House on Wednesday. Then the road could be cleared for a vote on Thursday. The proposal must be approved not only by the House of Commons, but also by the House of Lords’ upper house. This can take quite some time in theory.
The Lower House made clear last month against a chaotic brexit without being a deal. However, it is also not possible to find a parliamentary majority for a Brexit plan. The parliamentarians have repeatedly rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s agreement and also voted against a series of alternative plans.
May may try to put her plan to the vote again, but the question is whether the House of Commons chairman John Bercow allows it. He previously ruled that the conservative leader should not continue to put her deal to the vote if nothing has changed in terms of content.