Parliament votes to extend Article 50

On Thursday 14 March 2019 the House of Commons voted on the following motion on whether to extend Article 50:

That this House:
(1) notes the resolutions of the House of 12 and 13 March, and accordingly agrees that the Government will seek to agree with the European Union an extension of the period specified in Article 50(3);

(2) agrees that, if the House has passed a resolution approving the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship for the purposes of section 13(1) (b) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 by 20 March 2019, then the Government will seek to agree with the European Union a one-off extension of the period specified in
Article 50(3) for a period ending on 30 June 2019 for the purpose of passing the necessary EU exit legislation; and

(3) notes that, if the House has not passed a resolution approving the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship for the purposes of section 13(1)(b) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 by 20 March 2019, then it is highly likely that the European Council at its meeting the following day would require a clear purpose for any extension, not least to determine its length, and that any extension beyond 30 June 2019 would require the United Kingdom to hold European Parliament elections in May 2019.

There were several amendments to the motion which were voted on and defeated:

Amendment H proposed that an extension should be long enough to hold a Second Referendum. The Opposition will support amendments on a public vote in order to prevent a damaging Brexit or no-deal. However the timing of those amendments is vital and the focus of yesterday’s debate was about securing an extension to Article 50. The Opposition abstained and the motion was defeated by 249 votes (Ayes: 85, Noes: 334).

There was an amendment to Amendment I which stated that any extension to the Brexit process should end by 30 June 2019. I voted for this amendment which was defeated by 3 votes (Ayes: 311, Noes: 314)

Amendment I proposed that Parliament hold a series of indicative votes to gauge the will of the House. I voted for this amendment which was defeated by 2 votes (Ayes: 312, Noes: 314)

Amendment E put forward by the Opposition called for the extension of Article 50 to prevent no-deal on 29th March and allow time for Parliament to find a majority for a different approach to Brexit. I voted for this amendment which was defeated by 16 votes (Ayes: 302, Noes: 318).

The Government’s motion to extend Article 50 was then voted on and passed by a majority of 210 votes (Ayes: 412, Noes: 202). Remarkably, the Brexit Secretary along with seven other members of the Cabinet voted against the motion. The Chief Whip abstained. The Cabinet is divided.