How humiliating has today been for the Government?

(Written on Tuesday the 4th of December 2018)

As I sit here on a cold Tuesday evening, I remember thinking at 4pm that today had been relatively quiet so far in terms of news - with the headline being the BBC pulling out of a Brexit debate designed to be ahead of the Brexit vote in just one weeks time. Then I chuckled to myself as I remembered that the government would face two further votes in the Commons that would have immense implications for the nation and Brexit.

So, whilst the Government had earlier lost a vote asking that the issue of contempt be referred to the Commons Privilege Committee but that had been defeated by MPs earlier today. The issue of contempt is substantial. A vote in the Commons passed on the 13th of November requiring the government to publish the entire legal text regarding Brexit.

The way I like to think about this is the Attorney General is the government's lawyer. They have to determine whether legislation is legal and compatible in the UK and essentially providing his approval is his endorsal in the Commons. Similar to general practises of law, the client/lawyer never has to disclose the full information, in fact, in most cases, the lawyer is bound by attorney/client privilege. However, Parliament needs someone to say whether legislation is legal and as such, the Attorney General did such a deed with regards to the Brexit deal but many MPs wanted clarification on whether this would lead to the UK becoming a permanent member of the Customs Union and bound to ECJ jurisdiction. Ordinarily, the Attorney General wouldn't publish such information as it is privileged. However, Parliament did approve a clause demanding the 'full legal text' due to the inflamed situation and intense arguments surrounding such an event. As you can imagine, the legal text outlines the implications of the deal in real terms and with such an important vote upcoming, May was wary of outlining a deal which she and her cabinet recognise has many a flaw. The decision to only publish some of the legal text has ignited concerns that the government is in contempt of Parliament.

Anyways, I digress, this sneaky attempt to send the issue of contempt to after the Brexit vote and thus preventing the requirement to publish the full legal text was defeated by just four votes earlier today. Truly embarrassing when government can't get more than 307 votes to support policy considering 322 is the general point of a majority but even more humiliating when you consider that if the PM can't even get this sneaky amendment through Parliament, she doesn't have a chance in hell of getting her Brexit deal through the Commons.

And it gets worse. The government was later found in contempt of Parliament and forced to publish the entirety of the legal text surrounding the Brexit deal. And that's not all of it. The Privileges Committee now has to look into who is responsible for this failure (contempt) and suitably sanction such individuals. May has already had numerous resignations, further resignations would be sub ideal for the PM - especially at such a crucial stage of the her reign.

And the bad news keeps piling on May. I'm not sure if you remember but earlier this year, Dominic Grieve submitted an amendment which required a so called 'meaningful vote' for the Brexit deal. This was supposed to be more than just 'do we accept this deal into the UK legislature? Yes or no?'. This was meant to carry weight, in order to ensure that Parliament, ultimately where decisions are made, was fully represented and that the government couldn't just bulldoze through and say here is the deal, you can either accept it or not. This evening, the Commons debated what the contents of this meaningful vote would be and boy is it important.

The government is being described, fairly accurately in my opinion, as being unable to pass legislation through the Commons - as denoted by the fact they lost thrice in one day. In this situation, government can no longer go to Parliament and say this is what we've done, do you accept it and 99% of the time, the government has a supporting majority in order to pass it through the Commons. As the government is currently incapable of doing such, MPs are trying to take power away from the executive and say well you're discussing this issue currently, the only way anything will pass through the Commons is if you put all the options on the table and allow Parliament to debate and vote on such issues. The reason this doesn't really ever happen is that it is incredibly inefficient and whilst this may only apply to Brexit, the implications are huge for the government because the Cabinet can no longer dictate policy, MPs can. That is truly embarrassing for the government because it will infantilise ministers who feel that they cannot pass through the legislation they want but rather, they have to ask Parliament what they want and follow such a path.

So, the government has lost three votes today. Ignominious. The government has been found in contempt of Parliament. Shameful. The government will now have to go to Parliament to discuss potential legislation. Absolutely humiliating.

The government is in crisis and how the PM can envisage any chance of her deal passing at least on the first reading is inconceivable. Why waste time going to the electorate and debating the deal when time is a virtue she does not have. Euro scepticism grew over years, Mrs May will not be able to influence the electorate in such a vast manner in a matter of seven days. Her position is tenuous and so is her deal. What happens next is anyone's guess but a storm is brewing...