Parliament braced for all-night drinking as MPs debate Brexit Bill beyond midnight

[Blackleaf]

A very British scene will play out on Tuesday as MPs sit in the House of Commons throughout the night to debate the merits of Brexit.

Ministers have prepared a rare midnight sitting to ensure they get approval to start Brexit talks by Theresa May’s deadline of the end of March.

Yet away from the cameras, Westminster insiders are bracing themselves for another patriotic pastime to be on display – heavy drinking...

Parliament braced for all-night drinking as MPs debate Brexit Bill beyond midnight

Empty beer glasses CREDIT: PHILIP TOSCANO/PA WIRE

Ben Riley-Smith, assistant political editor
31 January 2017
The Telegraph

A very British scene will play out on Tuesday as MPs sit in the House of Commons throughout the night to debate the merits of Brexit.

Ministers have prepared a rare midnight sitting to ensure they get approval to start Brexit talks by Theresa May’s deadline of the end of March.

Yet away from the cameras, Westminster insiders are bracing themselves for another patriotic pastime to be on display – heavy drinking.

Parliament’s bars will stay open all night to serve MPs taking a break from discussing the merits of the customs union or idiosyncrasies of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Thanks to parliamentary tradition, Strangers' Bar – which overlooks the River Thames – must stay open until the House of Commons rises.

The 137-word Brexit bill

There are now concerns that MPs currently on “Dry January” will head straight to the bars when the clock strikes midnight on Tuesday, the last day of the month.

“Most people would have made their contribution by midnight,” one minister warned this newspaper.

“They will either be celebrating the imminent passing of the Bill through the Commons or drowning their sorrows.”

There is a danger scenes from the Coalition years could be repeated when a Tory MP got so drunk during a late sitting he missed a vote on the Budget.

Mark Reckless, then a Conservative MP, now a member of Ukip, admitted heavy drinking had impacted his ability to vote in 2010, just months after attending Parliament.

“I don’t know what came over me. It was a long day and I’d had a very early breakfast meeting,” he admitted afterwards.

“I normally have just one or two and know when to stop. I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember falling over.”

Just 2 per cent of all sittings in the Commons go beyond midnight nowadays – far less than in the 1980s, when 10 per cent lasted until at least 2am.

Ken Clarke, the former Tory cabinet minister, revealed the scale of drinking in Parliament when he first joined Parliament in 1970 in his recent memoirs.

He recalled how one MP accused of throwing a punch during a Commons debate was asked if he had been drunk the following day in an interview.

“A drop of beer never crossed my lips,” he told the radio presenter. Wise colleagues, wrote Mr Clarke, noted that the MP’s tipple of choice was whisky.

A green light shines on the Elizabeth Tower whenever either House of Parliament is sitting after dark

Parliament braced for all-night drinking as MPs debate Brexit Bill beyond midnight

 

[Remington1]

Lots of protest in London to ban Trump's visit. Apparently he's too radical. What was Brexit all about again again?

 

[Mowich]

Lots of protest in London to ban Trump's visit. Apparently he's too radical. What was Brexit all about again again?

Britain taking itself out of the EU.

A very British scene will play out on Tuesday as MPs sit in the House of Commons throughout the night to debate the merits of Brexit.

Ministers have prepared a rare midnight sitting to ensure they get approval to start Brexit talks by Theresa May’s deadline of the end of March.

Yet away from the cameras, Westminster insiders are bracing themselves for another patriotic pastime to be on display – heavy drinking...

Parliament braced for all-night drinking as MPs debate Brexit Bill beyond midnight

Empty beer glasses CREDIT: PHILIP TOSCANO/PA WIRE

Ben Riley-Smith, assistant political editor
31 January 2017
The Telegraph

A very British scene will play out on Tuesday as MPs sit in the House of Commons throughout the night to debate the merits of Brexit.

Ministers have prepared a rare midnight sitting to ensure they get approval to start Brexit talks by Theresa May’s deadline of the end of March.

Yet away from the cameras, Westminster insiders are bracing themselves for another patriotic pastime to be on display – heavy drinking.

Parliament’s bars will stay open all night to serve MPs taking a break from discussing the merits of the customs union or idiosyncrasies of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Thanks to parliamentary tradition, Strangers' Bar – which overlooks the River Thames – must stay open until the House of Commons rises.

The 137-word Brexit bill

There are now concerns that MPs currently on “Dry January” will head straight to the bars when the clock strikes midnight on Tuesday, the last day of the month.

“Most people would have made their contribution by midnight,” one minister warned this newspaper.

“They will either be celebrating the imminent passing of the Bill through the Commons or drowning their sorrows.”

There is a danger scenes from the Coalition years could be repeated when a Tory MP got so drunk during a late sitting he missed a vote on the Budget.

Mark Reckless, then a Conservative MP, now a member of Ukip, admitted heavy drinking had impacted his ability to vote in 2010, just months after attending Parliament.

“I don’t know what came over me. It was a long day and I’d had a very early breakfast meeting,” he admitted afterwards.

“I normally have just one or two and know when to stop. I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember falling over.”

Just 2 per cent of all sittings in the Commons go beyond midnight nowadays – far less than in the 1980s, when 10 per cent lasted until at least 2am.

Ken Clarke, the former Tory cabinet minister, revealed the scale of drinking in Parliament when he first joined Parliament in 1970 in his recent memoirs.

He recalled how one MP accused of throwing a punch during a Commons debate was asked if he had been drunk the following day in an interview.

“A drop of beer never crossed my lips,” he told the radio presenter. Wise colleagues, wrote Mr Clarke, noted that the MP’s tipple of choice was whisky.

A green light shines on the Elizabeth Tower whenever either House of Parliament is sitting after dark

Parliament braced for all-night drinking as MPs debate Brexit Bill beyond midnight

Gee, BL.........sounds like what our MPs would get up in the House........way back at the dawn of Confederation.

 

[Curious Cdn]

So, if the House votes against Brexit, does that trigger a non-confidence motion and the government might fall? If that is true, there will be another Brexit referendum in the form of a general election.

 

[Blackleaf]

Lots of protest in London to ban Trump's visit. Apparently he's too radical. What was Brexit all about again again?

Left-wing rent-a-mobs.

So, if the House votes against Brexit, does that trigger a non-confidence motion and the government might fall? If that is true, there will be another Brexit referendum in the form of a general election.

Parliament is to vote later today on whether or not the Government can trigger Article 50. The result is expected to be known around 7pm. It is highly unlikely that Parliament will vote against it, with most Tory MPs to vote in favour of it and eurosceptic Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to impose a three-line whip on his MPs to get them to vote for it, although several Labour rebels are still expected to vote against it.

As many as 100 MPs – mainly from the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party – will today vote against the law to trigger the start of Britain’s exit from the EU. But as there are 650 MPs, this means the Brexit Bill should still pass easily.

The Commons debated the matter until midnight last night and is again debating it now.

Brexit Secretary David Davis began an historic twelve-hour debate in the House of Commons after the Government was forced to draw up legislation to trigger Article 50 after losing an appeal at the Supreme Court. The Bill is being rushed through Parliament in order to meet Mrs May’s aim to trigger Article 50 by March 9.

He said: “The eyes of the nation are on this chamber as we consider this Bill. For many years, there has been a creeping sense in the country – and not just this country – that politicians say one thing, and do another.

“We voted to give the people the chance to determine our future in a referendum. Now we must honour our side of the agreement: to vote to deliver on the result.”

Mr Gove, the former Justice Secretary who led the Vote Leave campaign, said it would be “harmful for our democracy” for MPs to reject June’s referendum result. MPs who called for a White Paper to set out the Government plans were “not seeking clarity. They are seeking obfuscation, delay and a dilution of the democratic mandate of the British people”.

Remainers lined up to rail against Brexit late into the night, but they can't thwart the will of the people

Maria Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes
1 February 2017
53 Comments

The starting pistol for exiting the EU was fired yesterday with the first of a two day debate on the second reading of the European Union withdrawal bill.

The House was packed for what would be a marathon twelve hour debate. The fireworks didn't take long to come after the opening pleasantries from the front benches thanks to a blistering speech from the Rt Hon Ken Clarke setting out why he wouldn’t be voting for the bill to proceed as he had not been struck, unlike many others in the House, by a light on the Brexit road to Damascus.

He eulogised about the benefits of remaining in the EU and the foolishness of holding the referendum in the first place.

But the one point I could agree with him on, was his advice to every MP that they should vote on an issue of this importance according to their view of the best national interest. In doing so he paraphrased Burke, who said to his constituents, "If I no longer give you the benefit of my judgement and simply follow your orders, I am not serving you but betraying you."

As someone whose constituency was evenly split on the Brexit issue, I'm in the difficult position that no matter how I vote at least 50 per cent of my constituents will not be happy, so these were reassuring words.

As we heard from one MP after the other from both sides of the debate, there were some standout contributions. As always, Hilary Benn was measured in his tone as he explained he was happy to respect the will of the people and trigger Article 50, but he would reserve judgement on the final terms until more detail was available.

It was good to see some of the Lib Dems in the chamber at last, with Nick Clegg setting out his stall. Given their absence in the House of Commons last week during the announcement of the start of the withdrawal bill, it amuses me that the Lib Dems continue to say publicly that they are the voice of Remain voters. In reality they are rarely in the chamber to scrutinise the debate.

Before Christmas, in fact, they were split on whether to trigger Article 50 or not, with only five of their nine MPs voting to block Brexit. As ever with the Lib Dems, why let the truth get in the way of a good campaign?

The award for the briefest speech of the day went to Dr Julian Lewis who lasted less than a minute with his contribution of “In my opinion, the people have decided and I am going to vote accordingly.” As the night went on there was an atmosphere of yearning for similar fleeting contributions.

The relay of Remainers started to take its toll on me around eight hours into the debate as one after the other got up to say they supported democracy - “but...”. Nothing infuriates me more than hearing these words from MPs who voted for a referendum to give the British people their say, but don’t like the answer they got.

Simon Phipps
@webmink

Your cheap party political shots in the #Article50 debate are shameful, @NickyMorgan01. Please take this seriously.


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Nicky Morgan ✔
@NickyMorgan01

@webmink oh, please. There is not a single Lib Dem left in the Chamber

- 31 Jan 2017

Retweets

The biggest shock of the night was the conversion, of biblical proportions, of Nicky Morgan who complained that the Lib Dems were wrong not to accept the will of the people. Members in the chamber were heard shouting “where are they?” in response.

Indeed where were the Lib Dems ? It was as if midnight had come early for them and for Labour MPs too, who had vanished like Cinderella’s carriage. I was tempted to make a point of order at that point to say, if the opposition hadn’t even made it to the end of day one, let's just vote on it now.

With the first day of debate drawing to a close it became apparent that unless things change drastically in the second day, MPs will support the triggering of Article 50. But members on all sides of the House warned the Government that in order to continue to receive support, more detail of the terms of our exit would need to be forthcoming, swiftly, and preferably in the form of a white paper.

The Brexit starting pistol has been fired, but there is a long way to go before reaching the finishing line. If day one of the process is anything to go by, this will be a marathon rather than a sprint.

Maria Caulfield is MP for Lewes, and member of the Committee on Exiting the European Union

Remainers lined up to rail against Brexit late into the night, but they can't thwart the will of the people

 

[Blackleaf]

The SNP's amendment opposing the bill is defeated by 336 votes to 100 - a majority of 236.

 

[coldstream]

Beer and Brexit.. sounds like a civilized way to debate a bill. It'd be so much more civilized though if they served that beer cold, as it was meant to be.

 

[Blackleaf]

Parliament votes 498 to 114 to trigger Article 50 - a majority of 384.

Beer and Brexit.. sounds like a civilized way to debate a bill. It'd be so much more civilized though if they served that beer cold, as it was meant to be.

Surely beer is meant to be warm. There were no fridges when beer was invented. And cold beer just loses most of its taste, unlike warm beer.

MPs have voted to trigger Article 50 by 498 to 114
SNP amendment rejected
Two Labour shadow cabinet ministers resign, more expected

Statement: Labour MP Frank Field

Commenting on tonight’s vote on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, Frank Field MP said:

"I voted against the amendment which would have wrecked the implementation of the referendum decision to leave the EU.

"I then voted for the bill that will begin the withdrawal negotiations. I did so because I believe on balance that leaving the EU is the best course for the country. I would have done so even if a majority of constituents taking part in the referendum had voted otherwise; a majority of them happened to vote in favour of leaving.

"I voted on the basis of risks. Staying in the EU would have had risks, and never more so when the single currency implodes. Leaving has risks in that we will need to negotiate our own treaties with the rest of the world.

"I don’t accept that the EU will be able to punish us that easily. If, for example, there is no agreement for the City of London, we may see a financial crisis developing in the EU banking system which any sensible European would be anxious to prevent. So the negotiations will swing between advantages and disadvantages, and we must aim for an agreement – however it is presented by the EU – which is good for both sides.

"That will prove to be difficult, but we must set out with that aim. To encourage that aim I believe we should universally cease using EU citizens in Britain as a bargaining chip. Getting off on a high note will, I hope, help to savour the negotiations which will be long, hard, detailed, and frustrating for most of the time."

Brexit vote: MPs pass Bill to trigger Article 50 by 498 votes to 114 - live

 

[Blackleaf]

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: At last, it is all clear for Brexit's lift-off

By Daily Mail Comment
2 February 2017
Daily Mail

This was a historic day for our country. At 7.30pm yesterday, by a resounding majority of 384, the Commons swept away the last serious obstacle to freeing Britain from the chains that have bound us to an unelected, unaccountable Brussels for nearly 45 years.

True, we can still expect dirty tricks from the 114 who, to their shame, voted against implementing the people’s will.

Of these, this paper will not waste ink on cursing SNP members, whose fantasies of Scotland as an independent EU nation gave them a spurious excuse for defying the UK majority.

The Speaker, John Bercow, is handed the result of the vote, which was 498 to 114 in favour of the government's Brexit Bill

As for the rest, no criticism is too harsh for those Labour MPs who represent solidly Brexiteer constituencies, but voted to remain. They deserve everything coming to them at the next election.

So, too, do the creeps who in 2015 backed the call for a binding referendum, but voted last night against implementing its result.

Among these, none can beat the monstrous hypocrisy of Nick Clegg – that flip-flopping representative of the monied elite, suckled on the breast of Brussels.

In 2008, it was he who led demands for an in/out referendum on Europe (as we demonstrate on the opposite page). Yet after the people voted Out, he voted In.

That we-know-best minority aside, last night was a triumph for democracy. For once, even Jeremy Corbyn showed he understood the word, ordering his party to vote for triggering Brexit (albeit at the cost of tearing Labour further apart).

But what a battle it has been to get to this stage. In the referendum campaign, David Cameron and George Osborne used every weapon in their armoury to try to scare and dupe voters.

Lavishing public funds on Project Fear, they enlisted support from the supposedly neutral Civil Service and Governor of the Bank of England, while bribing businessmen and think-tanks to join them with hints of gongs.

Next, they persuaded President Obama to warn that Britain would be sent to the ‘back of the queue’ for a trade deal if we pulled out (how empty that threat looks, now his successor has put us at the front).

As the BBC’s Newsnight reported on Tuesday, Mr Cameron even tried to get the Editor of this newspaper sacked in his desperation to stop the public reading the case for Brexit.

And even after 17.4million voters saw through the scaremongering, bullying and lies, diehard Remoaners refused to accept the result.

Labour MP Chris Bryant ignored Jeremy Corbyn's three-line whip and voted against the Brexit Bill despite 53 percent of voters in his Rhondda constituency voting for Brexit

Thousands took to the streets to march against democracy. Many sought to fob the public off with ‘soft Brexit’, meaning membership of the EU in all but name.

Others spread gloom – including Sir Ivan Rogers, our former ambassador to the EU. A classic Foreign Office appeaser, he was at it again yesterday, suggesting Britain will have to pay a £50billion bill for pulling out.

Meanwhile, Remoaners went to the courts, persuading a handful of unaccountable judges – with three honourable exceptions – to give MPs the final say, though Parliament had resolved by six-to-one to let the people decide.

This brings us back to last night’s crucial vote on the Second Reading of the EU withdrawal Bill, which puts beyond doubt the Government’s right to trigger Brexit before the end of next month.

Above all, that thumping 384 majority sends a powerful signal to the Lords that they will sabotage Brexit at their peril.

Indeed, with Theresa May four-square behind Brexit, the U.S. joining others eager for trade deals, economists upgrading growth forecasts every week – and countless Remainers switching sides, as they survey the EU’s decline – everything is set fair for a bright future.

At last, we’re on our way out, and up. We have lift-off.

Read more: DAILY MAIL COMMENT: It is all clear for Brexit's lift-off | Daily Mail Online
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