Peers have today inflicted a hugely damaging defeat on Theresa May’s Brexit Bill by demanding Parliament is given a meaningful vote if no deal is reached with the EU.
The House of Lords defied the PM’s pleas to ‘keep faith’ with the British public and fall into line on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
Instead they backed the Hailsham amendment in a move which sets the stage for a crunch showdown between Mrs May and her Tory rebels on Wednesday when it returns to the Commons.
In a fiery debate, Viscount Hailsham branded Brexit a ‘national calamity’ and said he was driven to act after ministers reneged on their promise to give Parliament a say if no deal is done by late January.
But he was accused of trying to ‘sabotage Brexit’ and of overstepping their authority by pushing through the change.
Peers voted by 354 to 235 to pass the controversial amendment.
Mrs May now faces a frantic 48 hours as she tries to pick off Tory backbenchers – led by Dominic Grieve – planning to join the revolt on Wednesday.
The PM has a wafer thin working majority of just 13 – meaning that if just a handful of her MPs rebel she faces a humiliating defeat.
Earlier, the PM had issued a last-minute plea to the House of Lords to ‘keep faith’ with the British public and not to thwart the vote to leave the EU.
The House of Lords (pictured today) today voted by a huge margin to defeat Theresa May and back and amendment handing Parliament a say over negotiations if no deal is signed by late January next year
Lord Hailsham (pictured in the Lords today) said he thinks Brexit is a ‘national calamity’ but insisted he was bringing forward his amendment not to block Brexit but to give Parliament a say on the deal
Theresa May (pictured at the Royal Free Hospital today where she was announcing a major cash boost for the NHS) urged peers not to try to overturn the will of the people. But the House of Lords defied her warnings and backed the amendment
In a tense and often bad-tempered debate in the Lords, Remainer peers clashed with their party colleagues who warned them they were overstepping their authority by dictating to ministers.
Tory minister Baroness Evans said the Government’s hand in negotiations with Brussels would be hugely weakened if Parliament was able to tell ministers what to do in negotiations.
She said: ‘It is not right that your lordships’ house could have a veto on the deal simply by refusing to consider a motion.’
She added: ‘It would represent a profound and historic shift in terms of which branch of the state has the right to act in the international sphere.
‘It would also be totally impractical. The Government cannot demonstrate the flexibility necessary for a successful negotiation.’
But Viscount Hailsham lashed out at ministers for U-turning on assurances given to Mr Grieve and other Tory rebels that their demands would be met in a Government drafted amendment.
It was this assurance that convinced Tory MPs not to rebel on the issue in the Commons last week – meaning the PM avoided what could have been a humiliating defeat.
Lord Halisham said: ‘The Government’s amendment not only fails to deliver the promised meaningful vote.
That would be an act of omission and bad enough. But this is far worse.
‘The Government is seeking to make the promised meaningful vote impossible and that is an act of commission contrary to what ministers have promised.’
But in the heated debate, he was accused by another Tory peer of trying to destroy Brexit.
Tory peer Lord Robathan asked him: ‘Is your amendment in fact about sabotaging Brexit? Because that seems to be the case.’
He also accused him of plotting with Labour peers to get their backing in undoing the Government’s plans.
But a furious Viscount Hailsham hit back saying he would not apologise for it.
He added: ‘This is the high court of Parliament and we are not party hacks.
‘The second point – whether I’m seeking to frustrate Brexit.
‘I don’t believe in Brexit – that’s perfectly true. I think its a national calamity.
‘But what I believe above all is the House of Commons should have a decisive say one way or another.’
He said the Government has tried to stop Parliament having a meaningful vote ‘in every conceivable way’ and he is determined to see it laid down in law.
The vote comes as the Tory civil war on Brexit continues to rage.
Mr Grieve has threatened to bring down the Government as he launches his final push to change the Brexit Bill.
Mrs May will try to face down rebel MPs on Wednesday, but she is expected to face a stiff challenge in talking down MPs who feel they were misled last week.
Mr Grieve said yesterday that his parliamentary allies remain 100 per cent committed to their battle to enshrine in law the right of MPs to have a real vote on the Brexit deal.
Speaking in the House of Lords debate this afternoon Tory minister Baroness Evans (pictured today, in the green top) said the Government’s hand in negotiations with Brussels would be hugely weakened if Parliament was able to tell ministers what to do in negotiations
Rebel Tory MP Dominic Grieve (pictured) has accused Mrs May of U-turning on a compromise over giving Parliament a ‘meaningful’ vote on the Brexit Bill. He will now lead an expected revolt on the same amendment in the Commons on Wednesday. If the PM suffers a defeat there her authority will be dealt a major blow
Without this guarantee MPs are being asked to sign up to a ‘slavery’ clause that will give minsters a free rein on Brexit, he claimed.
‘We could collapse the Government, and I assure you I wake up at 2am in a cold sweat thinking about the problems that we have put on our shoulders,’ he told the BBC’s Sunday Politics Show.
‘The difficulty is that the Brexit process is inherently risky, really risky. Risky to our economic wellbeing, to our international relationships and ultimately to our national security.’
The former attorney general said the alternative to a Commons say over the Brexit process was a ‘slavery clause’ that bound MPs to taking action they may think would go against the country’s interest.
He said: ‘Of course note will be taken of it in Brussels, but I can’t save the Government from getting into a situation where parliament might disagree with it.’
‘The alternative is that we’ve all got to sign up to a slavery clause now, saying whatever the Government does, whenever it comes to January, however potentially catastrophic it might be for my constituents and for my country, I’m signing in blood now that I will follow over the edge of a cliff.
‘And that I can tell you, I am not prepared to do.’
Mr Grieve last week brought forward an amendment to the Bill to enshrine in law that MPs must be given a ‘meaningful vote’ on the final Brexit deal.
Faced with a potentially devastating rebellion which would have dealt a major blow to her authority, Mrs May promised to make some of the changes rebels were demanding to the Bill.
But Mr Grieve said he was left shocked when, at the eleventh hour, ministers reneged on the deal and said Parliament could only have a vote in ‘neutral terms’ on the deal – meaning MPs could not express any opinion on it.
His rebel allies accused ministers of ‘sneaky’ tactic and warned that the PM had shattered their trust in her.
But the Government’s Solicitor-General, Robert Buckland, warned Mr Grieve’s demands would had the EU a ‘trump card’ in negotiations.
He said: ‘David Davis needs to be able to go out there and have a firm negotiating hand.
‘My worry is about no matter how well intentioned Dominic’s amendment might be.
‘It actually plays badly in the most important negotiation – which is over in Brussels’.
On the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Mrs May insisted that she is a ‘woman of her word’ and had not misled her back bench MPs in last week’s compromise row.
But she insisted that she must be allowed to freely negotiate with Brussels – and that parliament cannot be given the power to ‘tie’ the Government’s hands.
She said: ‘I did indeed meet a group of my fellow MPs.
‘I listened to their concerns and I undertook to consider their concerns.
‘And the next day I stood up in Prime Minister’s Questions and said I’d put an amendment down in the House of Lords. I’ve done exactly that.
‘We recognise the concerns people have about the role of Parliament.’
Mrs May added: ‘Parliament cannot tie the hands of Government in negotiations.’