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Government drops plan to bring forward MPs' summer break amid fears of losing vote

Ministers U-turn on plan to move recess dates after Tory backlash and prospect of Commons defeat

Benjamin Kentish
Political Correspondent
Tuesday 17 July 2018 20:36 BST
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Theresa May has come under mounting pressure from Tory Brexiteers furious at her Brexit strategy
Theresa May has come under mounting pressure from Tory Brexiteers furious at her Brexit strategy

The government has backed down on its plan to bring forward MPs' summer break - less than 24 hours after proposing it.

Facing an angry backlash and the likelihood of a Commons defeat, ministers decided not to force a vote on their motion to begin Parliament's summer recess five days earlier than planned.

MPs had been due to leave Westminster next Tuesday, but ministers sought to bring that forward to Thursday as pressure mounted on Theresa May over her Brexit plans.

However, their plan was scuppered when a number of angry Tory MPs vowed to join Labour in voting against the proposal, forcing ministers to accept defeat.

There were jeers in the Commons as it was confirmed the motion would not be put to a vote.

The U-turn will come as an embarrassment to Theresa May and Julian Smith, the Conservatives' chief whip, amid speculation the move was designed to make it difficult for Tory Brexiteers to call a vote of no confidence in the prime minister before MPs leave Westminster for the summer.

Government sources told The Independent the motion had only been put forward after Tory whips were led to believe that Labour would support it. However, it is understood that the Labour leadership had not agreed to the proposal and later ordered its MPs to vote against it.

Ministers decided not to move their motion after a number of Conservative MPs threatened to vote it down.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Commons health select committee, criticised the move and said her committee would sit as planned next Tuesday.

She tweeted: "I will not be voting for an early recess. CommonsHealth will be sitting as usual on Tuesday 24th to hear from the Secretary of State."

Her colleague, Phillip Lee, who recently quit as a minister over Brexit, condemned the plan for an earlier break as "shameful" at what he said was a "crucial time".

Sir Nicholas Soames and Nick Boles also vowed to vote against the government motion.

Speaking after the motion was pulled, Commons Speaker John Bercow admitted it was "pretty unusual suddenly to suggest a change" to Parliament's recess dates but said ministers' had been within their rights to do so.

But the SNP's Alison Thewliss said the "shambles" was "absolutely ridiculous" and "disrespectful" to MPs, while Labour's Chris Bryant called it a "rum business".

With the government plan abandoned, MPs will leave Westminster on 24 July and return on 4 September.

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