Remainers are today launching a fresh bid to prevent No Deal – with ministers threatening to quit to joint the mutiny.
MPs are set to vote on legislation that could thwart any effort by Boris Johnson to suspend Parliament to ensure Brexit happens on October 31.
Mr Johnson, the overwhelming favourite to succeed Theresa May next week, has repeatedly refused to rule out using the constitutionally explosive tactic – although he has made clear it would not be his first choice.
An eminent former judge warned today that efforts by ex-PM Sir John Major and others to bring a judicial review of such a move would be likely to fail.
Justice Secretary David Gauke, who has already said he will not serve under Mr Johnson, this morning refused to rule out resigning to join the revolt.
Chancellor Philip Hammond was also thought to be considering his position – but aides insisted that he has no plans to quit.
Dozens more Tories on the Remainer wing could abstain to help avert the measure go through.
Justice Secretary David Gauke (pictured left), who has already said he will not serve under Mr Johnson, this morning refused to rule out resigning to join the revolt. Chancellor Philip Hammond (right) is also thought to be considering his position
Boris Johnson (pictured at Tory hustings in London last night) has repeatedly refused to rule out suspending Parliament to force No Deal Brexit
The latest Commons Brexit clash was teed up when the Lords passed amendments to new laws on Northern Ireland yesterday.
Labour joined Liberal Democrats and leading independent crossbenchers in the upper house to try to scupper what opposition peers branded a ‘constitutional outrage’.
The change to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill would require progress reports on restoring devolved government in the province to be debated regularly in Parliament, effectively preventing it being prorogued.
A cross-party tweak tabled by Labour’s Hilary Benn and Tory Alistair Burt effectively beefs up the obstacles by stating that Parliament must meet within five days if a minister is unable to deliver a report because the House has been suspended.
The amendment has been signed by Conservatives including rebel ringleader Dominic Grieve, former Cabinet ministers Justine Greening and Sir Oliver Letwin, and ex-ministers Phillip Lee, Guto Bebb and Sam Gyimah.
It has been accepted by Speaker John Bercow, meaning it should be brought to a vote.
With the government’s effective majority standing at just four, the numbers appear to be stacked against the government.
No10 refused to say whether Tory MPs would be on a three-line whip for the divisions this afternoon – which would mean they could face disciplinary action if they refuse to vote against the amendment.
Tory leader front runner Mr Johnson again refused at the final campaign hustings last night to rule out proroguing – suspending – Parliament in order to meet his red line of getting the UK out of the EU by October 31.
Rival for Number 10 Jeremy Hunt has insisted he would not use such a constitutional manoeuvre to force EU withdrawal.
The amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill builds on an amendment passed in the Commons last week, when MPs backed a proposal from the pro-European Tory Dominic Grieve calling for fortnightly reports from the Government on the efforts to restore the power-sharing executive.
The new Lords amendment would ensure these have to be debated in the weeks before the Brexit deadline.
The Bill could theoretically make it illegal for the Government to prorogue parliament in the autumn if the power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland has not been restored.
Tory rebel ringleader Dominic Grieve (pictured) has signed an amendment aiming to prevent the new PM suspending Parliament to force No Deal
Labour’s Hilary Benn is pushing an amendment to force ministers to hold votes in Parliament before Brexit happens
Mr Gauke said proroguing Parliament would be ‘outrageous’ but did not confirm whether he would back measures seeking to block it.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I will have to see what the precise amendments are and we’re hearing what the whipping will be and the arguments for that so I’m not in a position to necessarily say.
‘But what I would say is the idea that Parliament should be suspended in October – a period where it always sits, Parliament has always in recent years sat at that time of year.
‘And at a crucial point in this country’s history if you like that Parliament should not be able to sit, should not be able to express its opinion and its will, I think would be outrageous.
‘I very much doubt that any prime minister would in fact suspend Parliament in these circumstances but I can understand the concerns that a lot of my colleagues have.’
No Deal would trigger a year-long RECESSION and 10% slump in the Pound
A no-deal Brexit will send Britain into a recession and leave a £30billion hole in the public finances, the UK’s budget watchdog warned today.
In its first assessment of the economic impact of crashing out without a deal this Autumn, the Office for Budget Responsibility said the Pound would nosedive by 10 per cent and the stock market by 5 per cent, pushing up inflation.
It said trade barriers and ‘declining confidence’ would make the economy shrink 2 per cent by the end of 2020, with the slump lasting a year.
However, Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that even the OBR’s grim assessment underplayed the real risk – saying vision of No Deal being pushed by Boris Johnson would mean the country is ‘hit much harder’.
In the executive summary of its latest forecast, the OBR said of a No Deal scenario: ‘Heightened uncertainty and declining confidence deter investment, while higher trade barriers with the EU weigh on exports.
The OBR estimated that under a ‘benign’ No Deal scenario real GDP will fall by 2.1 per cent by the fourth quarter of 2019, around the same as in the early-1990s recession
Chancellor Philip Hammond (in Paris for a meeting of G7 ministers) warned that even that grim OBR assessment underplayed the real risk – and the vision of No Deal being pushed by Boris Johnson would mean the country is ‘hit much harder’
‘Together, these push the economy into recession, with asset prices and the pound falling sharply.
‘Real GDP falls by 2 per cent by the end of 2020 and is 4 per cent below our March forecast by that point.
The OBR said the housing market would drop by 10 per cent if the aftermath of a No Deal.
The watchdog also said its scenario was ‘relatively benign’ and did not consider the prospect of France deliberately hampering trade across borders.
‘This scenario is not necessarily the most likely outcome and it is relatively benign compared to some (for example, assuming limited short-term border disruptions),’ the report said.
‘But it still adds around £30billion a year to borrowing from 2020-21 onwards and around 12 per cent of GDP to net debt by 2023-24, compared with our March forecast baseline.’
Last November, the Bank of England warned the economy could shrink by eight per cent by 2035 and that interest rates would have to rise by 5.5 per cent to offset the impact.
Responding to the report, Mr Hammond said it showed there would be a ‘very significant hit’ even in the ‘most benign version’ of No Deal.
In a swipe at Mr Johnson, he said: ‘But that most benign version is not the version that is being talked about by prominent Brexiteers.
‘They are talking about a much harder version, which would cause much more disruption to our economy, and the OBR is clear that in that less benign version of no-deal the hit would be much greater, the impact would be much harder, the recession would be bigger.
‘So, I greatly fear the impact on our economy and our public finances of the kind of no-deal Brexit that is realistically being discussed now.’