MPs approve 461 v 89 plan to trigger Art. 50 TEU by 31 March
The members of the UK
Parliament (‘MPs’) have voted on Wednesday evening (7th December, 20:10 UTC) in London to support the
government’s plan to trigger Article 50 TEU and the ensuing exit negotiations
of Britain from the EU by 31st March 2017.
The vote at the lower
parliament chamber of the Kingdom (‘House of Commons’) confirmed by a vast
majority (461 to 89) the right of the government to proceed with the mandate it
received from the people of Britain following the referendum of 23 June 2016 to
act on the popular will (51.9% in favour of Brexit).
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| UK Parliament - Image credit Mdbeckwith Wikimedia |
The Labour party, and
political forces in Scotland and Northern Ireland (where the majority of voters
was against Brexit) have tried for the past five months to raise obstacles to
the implementation of the results of the
referendum.
On Tuesday, the Labour party
filed a motion saying the government should publish a
plan and it was "Parliament's responsibility to properly scrutinise the
government" over Brexit. The motion initially received 448 v 75 votes, but the debate today in the House
of Commons, and a compromise reached between the Conservative (ruling) party and Labour,
has now given a clear go-ahead to the government to proceed with its plans. The
opposition has, however, made it clear that they will closely monitor the
negotiations process.
The result of the parliamentary vote is
likely to influence the decision of the UK Supreme Court, which is due to
decide later this month whether the government can trigger Art. 50 TEU within
the frame of its own powers, or whether the Parliament should first officially
approve activation of Art. 50 TEU. The Supreme Court judges are hearing this week the arguments of the parties.
Theresa May, UK PM, has demonstrated her
political ability, and shrewdness, by bringing the matter to parliamentary vote
before the Supreme Court’s decision. She has also deflected a rebellion by 40 MPs of her own party this week, who consider that the parliament is above citizens' decisions taken by referendum.
But the matter is not over. Mrs May will
now have to develop a well thought-out Brexit strategy in the face of a
dis-united EU, whose core members—Germany, France, the Netherlands—are seeking
‘blood’, in the sense of inflicting upon the UK tough economic and freedom-of-movement
sanctions, among other forms of punishment. Many hard-core EU members would
like to isolate Britain from Europe and use the Brexit case as a deterrent for
other member states, which, in these politically volatile times, are playing
with the idea of quitting the Club.
This is the political stance of
unconditional Europhiles with federalist aspirations—Angela Merkel, François
Hollande, Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk, and (until this week) Matteo Renzi.
But times have changed, and the results of presidential or legislative
elections next year in the Netherlands, France, Germany will finally determine
the viability of the European Project, and the position to adopt in respect to
Brexit. Hopefully, cool heads will prevail, and Europe will continue to be an
area of prosperity and peace, as in the past 60 years.
