John Baron MP votes against extending Article 50 deadline

MP: Remain Parliament thwarting referendum result

Last night in the House of Commons, MPs voted to pass the Bill tabled by Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP at Third Reading (its final Commons stage) by a majority of one. This Bill mandates the Government to extend the Article 50 deadline to rule out a ‘no deal’ exit from the European Union. MPs supporting the Bill rammed the Bill through in a single day, using a rarely-used procedure, and will attempt a similar task in the House of Lords today. If the Bill passes through the Lords, it will become law. John Baron MP voted against all stages of the Bill, and against the Business Motion which paved the way for it which was also passed by a majority of one. John again spoke in the debate.

In the Chamber, John said,

“Despite the predictions of doom and gloom in 2016, the economic reality since is that we have had a strong period of growth, and investment decisions have been made in the full knowledge that we could be leaving with no deal on WTO terms.”

“We have had record low unemployment, record inward investment and record manufacturing output. I suggest to the House that the reason we for that is that economic reality, trade and comparative advantage trump predictions. When we talk about comparative advantage, factors such as how low our corporation tax rates are compared with those in other countries, how much more flexible our labour markets are, our financial expertise, which is unrivalled – certainly within Europe – our research and development, and our top universities are more important, in aggregate, than WTO tariffs and leaving with no deal. The proof of the pudding is in the economic reality.”

John said afterwards,

“This vote last night is another clear sign of a remain-dominated Parliament attempting to thwart the referendum result. Nearly 85% of voters at the last General Election supported parties committed in their manifestoes to leaving both the Single Market and the Customs Union, and yet MPs last night voted to mandate the Government to extend the Article 50 deadline to avoid a ‘no deal’ exit.”

“Ramming through an entire Bill in a matter of hours is a recipe for bad law, and back bench MPs would be united in uproar if the Government attempted such tactics – rightly pointing out that this leaves virtually no time to scrutinise legislation or explore its effects. It is also an outrage that this Bill was put forward by a group of remain back bench MPs who have been allowed to set themselves up as an alternative executive, but with no accountability. Unlike with the Government, it is impossible for MPs to hold this group to account via the usual channels like Parliamentary Questions, Urgent Questions or Statements.”

“I hope the House of Lords will subject this bad Bill to extensive scrutiny, using their different procedures to slow down the process, if not stop it altogether. Exiting the EU with no deal remains the legal default on 12th April, and whilst I would prefer to leave with a good deal, the Government and Prime Minister have repeatedly reassured Parliament that the UK is fully prepared for a no deal/WTO terms Brexit. We must leave the EU as soon as possible, especially as this was meant to happen last Friday.”

Notes to Editors:

• John’s full speech is online at: http://bit.ly/2HW6MVV.

• John also voted against the amendment from Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, which would have provided for a further set of ‘indicative votes’ on Monday.

• The outcome of the vote was a tie, with the Speaker, in accordance with custom, using his casting vote against the motion. There will therefore be no indicative votes on Monday.