Some 89 MPs have refused to support the Government’s intention to start Brexit negotiations next year.
A Commons vote saw Theresa May’s amendment to a Labour motion - agreeing that the Government must trigger Article 50 by the end of March next year - sail through by 461 votes to 89.
A second vote, on a Labour motion calling on the Government to set out a Brexit “plan” before triggering Article 50, won by 448 votes to 75.
While non-binding, the vote forced MPs to state their position - with a cabal of refusenik MPs dominated by the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, but also some 23 Labour MPs and one Tory rebelling against the party whip.
Details of the rebels later emerged ...
Conservative MPs - 1
Ken Clarke
Labour MPs - 23
Rushanara Ali
Graham Allen
Ben Bradshaw
Ann Coffey
Neil Coyle
Stella Creasy
Geraint Davies
Jim Dowd
Louise Ellman
Chris Evans
Paul Farrelly
Mike Gapes
Helen Hayes
Meg Hillier
Peter Kyle
David Lammy
Chris Leslie
Ian Murray
Barry Sheerman
Tulip Siddiq
Angela Smith
Catherine West
Daniel Zeichner
Lib Dem MPs - 5
Alistair Carmichael
Nick Clegg
Tim Farron
Sarah Olney
Mark Williams
SNP MPs - 51
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh
Hannah Bardell
Mhairi Black
Ian Blackford
Kirsty Blackman
Philip Boswell
Deidre Brock
Alan Brown
Lisa Cameron
Douglas Chapman
Joanna Cherry
Ronnie Cowan
Angela Crawley
Martyn Day
Martin Docherty-Hughes
Stuart Blair Donaldson
Marion Fellows
Margaret Ferrier
Stephen Gethins
Patricia Gibson
Patrick Grady
Peter Grant
Neil Gray
Drew Hendry
Stewart Hosie
George Kerevan
Calum Kerr
Chris Law
Angus MacNeil
John Mc Nally
Callum McCaig
Stuart McDonald
Anne McLaughlin
Carol Monaghan
Paul Monaghan
Roger Mullin
Gavin Newlands
John Nicolson
Brendan O’Hara
Kirsten Oswald
Steven Paterson
Angus Robertson
Alex Salmond
Tommy Sheppard
Chris Stephens
Alison Thewliss
Mike Weir
Eilidh Whiteford
Philippa Whitford
Corri Wilson
Pete Wishart
Green MPs - 1
Caroline Lucas
SDLP MPs - 3
Mark Durkam
Alasdair McDonnell
Margaret Ritchie
Independent MPs - 2
Natalie McGarry
Michelle Thomson
Plaid Cymru MPs - 3
Jonathan Edwards
Liz Saville Roberts
Hywel Williams
The Labour Party considers forcing the Government to publish a plan a “significant climbdown” amid fears of a Commons defeat as Tory rebels demanded more clarity.
But, as HuffPost UK reported yesterday, the ‘plan’ may amount to nothing more than a list of the Prime Minister’s broad objectives, rather than any detailed proposals for negotiation in Brussels.
And in a move that could spark a fresh “Brexit means Brexit” controversy, May is expected instead to simply set out a list similar to the one she gave Jeremy Corbyn in PMQs in November.
But the Liberal Democrats accused Labour and the Tories of “holding hands towards a hard Brexit”.
And the SNP seized on the thinness of the ‘plan’, arguing Labour had handed the Government a “blank cheque for hard Brexit”.
Though one Labour MP rejected the idea out of hand.
Theresa May insisted on Tuesday that she wanted a “red, white and blue” Brexit, a phrase that swiftly came under fire as “meaningless”. Stephen Gethins MP, the SNP’s Europe spokesperson, said:
“It is only after 167 days of silence from the UK government that they have trumpeted their last minute panic plan. However, it is far from a plan. It is worrying and indicative of a government that the scribbled notes offered slightly more clarity than Theresa May’s recent revelation of her red, white and blue plan.”
While the vote is not technically binding on the Government, it is the first time Parliament has backed May’s Brexit timetable, which would lead to the UK being out of the EU by the end of March 2019.
The vote comes amid the Supreme Court this week considering whether the Government needs Parliament’s permission to trigger Article 50.