Labour backs cross-party amendment to block no-deal Brexit
Source: The Guardian
Labour backs cross-party amendment to block no-deal Brexit
Labour backs cross-party amendment to block no-deal Brexit
Jessica Elgot Political correspondent
Mon 7 Jan 2019 14.08 GMT
Labour is to support a backbench amendment tabled by Yvette Cooper that could force a government shutdown unless a no-deal Brexit is taken off the table.
The Labour frontbench is likely to whip its MPs to back the cross-party amendment, significantly increasing its chances of success in the Commons.
The amendment has the backing of a number of Labour and Conservative select committee chairs, including Tories Nicky Morgan and Sarah Wollaston, Labours Hilary Benn and Frank Field, the pro-Brexit chair of the work and pensions select committee.
The amendment to the finance bill, tabled over the weekend, is one of the first of a slew of parliamentary tactics expected to be adopted by MPs to try to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Its effect would be to restrict the governments freedom to make Brexit-related tax changes without parliamentary safeguards.
The amendment would be attached to one clause in the finance bill, designed to give the government the power to keep tax law working in the event of a no-deal Brexit. If it is passed, it would mean that clause would only be allowed to come into force if there were either a Brexit deal, a decision to extend article 50, or a vote in the Commons specifically approving a no-deal Brexit.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/07/labour-backs-cross-party-amendment-to-block-no-deal-brexit