Brexit news: MPs submit indicative vote plans as government rejects 'Revoke Article 50' petition
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MPs are gearing up for a series of votes on different Brexit scenarios after dramatically wresting control of the EU exit process from the government.
Different Brexit factions must put forward their preferred options by the end of the day for “indicative votes” on Wednesday, including bids for a Norway-style deal and a second referendum.
The move could pave the way for a softer Brexit, prompting infighting among Eurosceptic hardliners over whether to back Theresa May‘s deal instead.
On Tuesday, the prime minister’s Brexit strategy was left in disarray and her leadership under threat after three of her ministers resigned and MPs dramatically voted to take control of the process.
Her authority was left in tatters after 30 members of her party defied her instructions and voted for the move. Three government resigned in order to vote against the prime minister.
It comes as the government rejected a petition with more than 5.78 million signatures calling for Brexit to be halted by revoking article 50.
In an official response posted on the parliamentary petitions website, the Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) said: “This government will not revoke Article 50.
“We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.”
The petition will still be debated by MPs in the Commons’s secondary chamber Westminster Hall on 1 April.
A government minister will be required to respond to the petition, but there will be no vote on the action it demands.
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Former foreign office minister Alistair Burt has told the BBC that other ministers are prepared to resign if Theresa May does not change course.
NEW: MPs will hold a Commons debate on a viral petition calling for Brexit to be cancelled.
The petition, which has been signed by more than 5.75m people, calls on the government to revoke the article 50 process. It will be debated by MPs in the Commons' secondary chamber Westminster Hall on April 1.
The Petitions Committee said it was "the most signed petition ever received on the House of Commons and Government petitions site".
MPs will also debate petitions calling for a second EU referendum, which has received more than 120,000 signatures, and another - signed by more than 140,000 - demanding that the UK leave with or without a deal on March 29.
Here's our story:
Cocaine users have "blood on their hands" and should be fined up to 100 per cent of their income if caught in possession, MPs have heard.
Tory MP Charles Walker said the "mayhem and destruction and tragedy" of knife crime is being fuelled by the cocaine trade.
He said cocaine users, including city traders and MPs, should be made to pay in a bid to remove drugs and drug gangs from the streets.
Mr Walker said anyone caught in possession should be fined a third of their income. On the second strike, they should be fined 50 per cent, and the third time they are caught, 100 per cent.
Addressing the House of Commons during a debate on the Offensive Weapons Bill, Mr Walker said: "I think it is appalling that you have the chattering classes wherever you may find them, whatever their politics, wringing their hands about the deaths of mostly young men and children on our streets, and then, moments later, too many of those people shoving a line of cocaine up their noses.
"That isn't a line of white powder, that is a line of blood and users of cocaine have blood on their hands, the lives of many many young people and children.
Mr Walker outlined how cocaine users should be hit in the pocket.
A group of hardline Brexiteers has written to Theresa May questioning her right to delay the UK's withdrawal from the EU beyond March 29.
The MPs said there were "serious legal objections" to Ms May's agreement at last week's EU summit in Brussels to extend the UK's membership until April 12 - or May 22 if she succeeds in passing her Brexit deal through parliament.
In their letter, they said the government's attempt to win parliament's approval of the extension after the event has "called into question the lawfulness of its actions and has created serious legal doubts about the legal situation surrounding the extension".
Signatories to the MPs' letter are Sir Bill Cash, Michael Tomlinson, Suella Braverman and David Jones.
A petition calling for Brexit to be halted by revoking Article 50 will be debated by MPs on 1 April, it has been announced.
Labour MP Gareth Snell has tabled a proposal for the government to negotiate a new customs union with the EU, as one of the options to be subjected to indicative votes on Wednesday.
The Stoke-on-Trent Central MP indicated his motion was the sixth to be tabled and had been given the letter F, as "slots A-E already taken".
"I have tabled with colleagues, for tomorrow, a motion to compel the Government to negotiate a new UK-EU customs union after we leave the EU," Mr Snell said.
"This text is identical to the successful amendment to the Trade Bill that Labour secured in the House of Lords."
Boris Johnson may be edging towards backing Ms May's Brexit deal, according to Telegraph reporter Tim Stanley.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has praised his junior minister Steve Brine, who quit to back the indicative votes amendment yesterday.
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