John Bercow has rejected the two key Brexit amendments that could have helped May avoid a huge defeat tonight. The Murrison and Swire amendments were designed to assuage some of the fears of Brexiteers about the Northern Ireland backstop, but neither have been selected by the Speaker, ostensibly because they lack sufficient support from backbenchers.
Instead Bercow has selected the following four amendments, none of which were backed by the government. Here they are:
Corbyn’s amendment
Labour’s official amendment will decline support for May’s deal on the basis that it does not provide for a permanent customs union with the EU, or protect workers’ rights.
Ian Blackford’s amendment
The SNP amendment also rejects the deal and calls for an extension of the Article 50 period in order to negotiate a better deal.
Edward Leigh’s amendment
This Brexiteer amendment rejects the Northern Ireland backstop and calls for the deal to be ripped up if the EU refuse to remove it.
John Baron amendment
The Baron amendment would give the UK the right to terminate the backstop at any point it wishes to without EU agreement.
Each amendment is expected to take around 15 minutes to vote on. With voting beginning at 7 PM GMT we can expect a final result around 8.15 PM.
None of the above amendments look likely to win majority support meaning that opposition to May’s deal tonight is likely to be at its maximum.
