The high hopes that Theresa May had on winning back her Brexit deal received a huge blow when it was heavily criticised by Tory MPs. As per the plan outlined by the Prime Minister, she had the main motive of winning the support of both the MPs of Labour Party as well as Tory via the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. As per the bill, it included on giving up a pledge to the Commons to cast a vote on having a second EU referendum or not, contained the guarantees to match the EU’s standards on workers’ rights and the environment and a vow to put the present government under a legal obligation for finding the alternatives on the controversial Irish backdrop before the end of 2020.
Adding further on her proposed bill, Mrs May said that the Parliament would decide upon the best response to break the impasse on the trade links with the EU and that for those who refuse to back up the deal would be considered as voting to stop Brexit. However, within minutes of the declaration of these terms and conditions by the PM in a speech at Central London, the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith declared that he would not be backing up on this deal. He quoted upon his claim by saying that he has not seen the government taking control upon anything due to the presence of the backdrop and hence it puts Brussels firmly over the future. Pondering further upon the wrong options for Non-Brexit, he said that the PM is trying to defy the results of the referendum at a time when the people are deserting the main parties.
Amongst the other criticisms on this bill, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of Brexiteer European Research Group, said that the compromise is unquestionably worse than that offered after the vote in March. ERG vice-chairman Steve Baker also said that he would vote against this bill which he compared with the muddled implementation of a failed deal and raised a lot of inconsistencies in the Prime Minister’s speech that lead to uncertainties in the future.
On the other hand, Dover MP Charlie Elphicke compared the proposal to a dog’s breakfast and ruled out his backing on the same when asked for the fourth time. He pointed out that the backstop customs union is still at the centre of the deal and hence, it has been preventing them from agreeing on the trade deals with the fastest growing economies of the world. He supported the PM in March as he thought it was their last chance to leave EU, but realised that the situation is not the same now and it would reflect upon the public as the desperation of the government to thwart the referendum results.
Amongst the others who voted against the move and presented their severe criticisms include Anne-Marie Trevelyan; Nigel Dodds, Westminster leader of the DUP; Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn; The SNP; Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru. All of them have virtually guaranteed that the bill would not pass.
