Rebels can take down UK government over Brexit: MP

Rebels inside the UK’s ruling Conservative Party can bring down Prime Minister Theresa May if she insists on keeping Members of Parliament (MPs) out of the Brexit process, says the former British attorney general.

“We could collapse the government,” Dominic Grieve, himself a rebel, said when asked by BBC on Sunday if the rebellion could bring down the government by undermining May’s bill to withdraw the UK from the European Union (EU).

“And I can assure you I wake up at 2am in a cold sweat thinking about the problems that we have put on our shoulders. The difficulty is that the Brexit process is inherently risky,” he added.

The comments came ahead of another crucial week for the May’s Brexit bill in the parliament. The government is trying to insert an amendment to make sure nothing can stop May after striking a deal with the EU by March 2019, when the two sides run out of time to negotiate a deal.

This would also allow May to walk away from the talks and complete a no-deal Brexit, as she has threatened time and again.

PressTV-May says needs to ensure parliament won’t block Brexit

British Prime Minister Theresa May says it is important to ensure that parliament could not block Brexit.

The Brexit bill has been going through a ping-pong process between the two houses of parliament. It returns to the House of Lords on Monday, when peers would vote on May’s amendment. They are also expected to insert an amendment of their own modeled after an idea by Grieve.

The amendments will return to the House of Commons on Wednesday, where May faces the possibility of defeat.

Last week, some of the rebels pulled back from voting against the bill after May promised to listen to their concerns. The MPs said later on that they felt let down by the eventual government amendment produced.

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Pro-EU Conservative lawmaker Stephen Hammond said May's Brexit amendment was 'hijacked' by government figures to 'force their will' on the process.

Grieve, who has drafted an amendment of his own to allow MPs direct ministers in the possible event of a no-deal Brexit, told the Press Association later in the day that the parliament didn’t want to sign May’s “slavery” bill.

“I can’t save the government from getting into a situation where parliament might disagree with it,” he said.

“The alternative is that we have all got to sign up to a slavery clause now saying whatever the government does, when it comes to January, however potentially catastrophic it might be for my constituents, and my country, I’m signing in blood now that I will follow over the edge of the cliff. And that, I can tell you, I am not prepared to do.”

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