Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to key eventsSkip to navigation

Ministers back down over human rights to avoid Tory rebellion - as it happened

This article is more than 6 years old

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including David Davis’s speech at a Brexit conference, Boris Johnson taking questions in the Commons and the EU withdrawal bill debate

 Updated 
Tue 21 Nov 2017 16.38 ESTFirst published on Tue 21 Nov 2017 04.22 EST
Theresa May in Brussels.
Theresa May in Brussels. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters
Theresa May in Brussels. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

Live feed

Key events

A separate Labour amendment, number 336, to retain the existing principles of EU law within domestic law on or after exit day has been defeated by 315 votes to 296 - a majority of 19.

A Labour amendment to retain the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in UK law was defeated by just 10 votes: 311 to 301.

Closer vote this time! Ayes 301 and noes 311. That means amendment 46 is rejected but that's much tighter than we've had before. Now amendment 336 being voted on.

— BBC Parliament (@BBCParliament) November 21, 2017
Share
Updated at 

MPs are now voting on the new clause 70 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill at committee stage.

This new clause would ensure that parliament is informed of changes in EU and European Economic Area provisions that might have amended UK laws around family-friendly employment rights and gender equality, and their potential impact.

A result of the division is expected shortly.

Grieve withdrew his amendment 10, to allow challenges to be brought to retained EU law, after solicitor general Robert Buckland said the government would bring forward its own amendment at report stage.

Buckland described the human rights landscape as “complex” and said the government did not want to remove any substantive rights enjoyed by UK citizens.

Grieve responded: “He has made at the despatch box a really important concession, which I much appreciate and clearly reflects the disquiet that has been shown across the House. And I can tell him now that in the light of that, I will not be pressing my amendment to a vote.”

Grieve wins key concession

Anushka Asthana
Anushka Asthana
Dominic Grieve. Photograph: BBC

Ministers have offered a concession in an attempt to quell a potential rebellion by Tory MPs that could have resulted in the first defeat on the EU withdrawal bill.

They are promising to review the way in which human rights would be affected by changes to the charter of fundamental rights caused by Brexit.

The promise comes after Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, laid down an amendment with significant Tory support calling for the charter to be taken into UK law after the EU exit.

He has told the Guardian that he will not be pushing for a vote on the issue - which was winnable - following the assurance.

What’s that sound? Sighs of relief across Westminster from political hacks, it would appear, as Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff tweets:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE https://t.co/Ju71M5s6pd

— Gaby Hinsliff (@gabyhinsliff) November 21, 2017

It's now impossible to call a general election in 2017 (1/5)

— Chris Hanretty (@chrishanretty) November 21, 2017

Chris Hanretty is professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, so should know what he is talking about.

Share
Updated at 
Richard Haass. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

A former US diplomat who chaired previous political negotiations in Northern Ireland says the current crisis could bring a push for Irish unity.

Richard Haass said a combination of poor leadership, Brexit and failure to deal with the legacy of the past had created the problems facing Stormont.

The president of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations tweeted:

Northern Ireland at a crisis point, the result of poor leadership, Brexit, & a failure to deal with the past. agree that the current impasse likely to lead to restructuring of its politics and/or push for Irish unification. hoping it does not lead to any resumption of violence.

— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) November 21, 2017

In 2013 Haass was drafted in to chair crunch talks aimed at averting the collapse of powersharing. Despite weeks of cross party negotiations in Belfast, the diplomat failed to find a breakthrough on the thorny issues of flags, parading and the legacy of the Troubles.

He had previously served as special envoy to the region under president George W Bush.

Robert Mugabe really has been around for a very long time, as BBC parliamentary reporter Esther Webber tweets.

woah. The first time Mugabe was mentioned in the Commons was 46 years ago, by Sir Alec Douglas-Home

— Esther Webber (@estwebber) November 21, 2017

Back to the fall of Mugabe for a moment. Foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the end of the Zimbabwe leader’s 37-year reign appeared to be a “moment of hope” for the country’s people.

With Emmerson Mnangagwa - a former Mugabe ally nicknamed the Crocodile - expected to be sworn in as president by Thursday, Johnson said: “I think it’s very important at the moment that we don’t focus too much on the personalities; let’s concentrate on the potential, the hope for Zimbabwe.

“What we need to see now is free, fair democratic elections and above all not a transition from one despotic rule to another. Working with our South African friends, with everybody in the region, that is what we are going to be encouraging, that is the choice we are going to encourage the Zimbabweans to make.”

Johnson added that Mugabe played an creating an independent nation, but allowed his legacy to be squandered: “His country went to rack and ruin and in some cases his people were driven to the brink of starvation. It’s time now for a new future.”

Share
Updated at 

Afternoon summary

  • Dominic Raab, a justice minister, has told MPs that people’s rights won’t be affected by the government’s decision not to incorporate the EU charter of fundamental rights into UK law. He was speaking during day three of the committee stage debate on the EU withdrawal bill, which transfers almost all EU law into UK law apart from the charter. Opposition MPs and some Tories have complained about this aspect of the bill and when the debate finishes at 8.45pm a range of amendments covering this and other issues will be put to a vote. (See 12.58pm for a guide to the main ones.) Explaining why the charter was not needed, Raab told MPs:

All of those substantive laws, principles and rights of which the charter is a reflection of the source will already be converted into domestic law by this bill - so it is not necessary to retain the charter in order to retain such substantive rights.

He also promised to allay concerns on this issue by publishing a memo within a fortnight showing how rights will be protected even though the charter of fundamental rights is not being included in UK law. (See 3.19pm.)

  • Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, has criticised the Irish government for issuing an ultimatum to London over Brexit. (See 4.21pm.)
  • Downing Street has insisted European Court of Justice jurisdiction over EU nationals in the UK will end after a two-year transition period following Brexit. (See 12.19pm.)

That’s all from me for today.

A colleague will be picking the blog up later to cover the end of the debate and the votes.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, has written an open letter to Jeremy Corbyn criticising Labour for not supporting an amendment to finance legislation intended to stop the UK leaving the customs union. The Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray tabled the amendment, which would have exempted EU goods from customs duties after Brexit. Labour MPs were ordered to abstain, and the amendment was defeated by 311 votes to 76. Murray was one of 28 Labour MPs who voted in favour.

In his letter Blackford says:

Your shadow Treasury minister stated that Labour’s position is to leave all options on the table. Last night’s vote was a chance to take a no-deal scenario off the table, something which would give businesses clarity and would send a positive message to our partners in Europe.

Passing the amendments would have paved the way to stay in the EEA [European Economic Area], as that would have been the only practical way to achieve what was proposed. From there, the UK government could have negotiated from a position of strength and removed the uncertainty of a no-deal scenario. If it then wished to exit the EEA and create new trade and customs arrangements with the world largest single market, it could still propose a new bill to parliament for these purposes.

Blackford used stronger language in a press release, saying:

It was shocking and unbelievable to witness Labour MPs voting against or abstaining on a perfectly sensible amendment tabled by a Scottish Labour MP to try and stop the worst excesses of a cliff edge Hard Brexit.

Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade minister, explained Labour’s reasons for not supporting the amendment on Twitter.

1/3
Amendment would have stopped Treasury from applying any tariffs or quotas to goods in or out of EU after Brexit. It did NOT keep us in Customs Union as EU could still impose tariffs on us! https://t.co/0KbD735vEv

— Barry Gardiner (@BarryGardiner) November 20, 2017

2/3...
WTO’s ‘most favoured nation’ rule says unless you have a specific trade agreement you must give all countries the same tariff & quota deal as you give the most favoured.
So if you can’t give tariffs to EU you can’t to anyone else either! https://t.co/0KbD735vEv

— Barry Gardiner (@BarryGardiner) November 20, 2017

3/3
So amendment would mean:
i)Under No Deal the U.K. could not impose ANY tariffs or quotas.
ii)even if we had a Customs Union Agreement with the EU but had a dispute over dumping we would not be able to impose any countervailing tariff to defend our industry
Hope that helps!

— Barry Gardiner (@BarryGardiner) November 20, 2017
Share
Updated at 

In the EU withdrawal bill debate the Tory Brexiter Sir Edward Leigh said in some respects the EU charter of fundamental rights actually undermined rights. He said:

There’s been a cosy consensus so far in this debate that everything about European human rights is wonderful and we want to transfer it into our own law.

Actually, many of us think that the advancement of European so-called human rights has been at the detriment of the rights of other people, particularly religious people, to find their own space.

When we retain or regain Parliamentary sovereignty in this House and through our democracy we can start asserting the right to real human rights.

He was backed by his fellow Tory Brexiter Sir Bill Cash who said:

I would also add, as I have said before in this debate, that it is up to us to make our own laws and we can make them, we can listen to the arguments, we can make the amendments, we can recognise rights of human rights and all the other things as and when.

The Treasury has published its customs bill today. Only, as the government press notice explains, it is now called the taxation (cross-border trade) bill.

Labour criticised it for giving extensive delegated powers to ministers. In a statement Peter Dowd, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said:

The publication of the government’s bill on the establishment of the UK’s future customs and tariff regime is yet another example of government legislation that gives large swathes of delegated powers to ministers with no reference to any meaningful parliamentary oversight. It is shocking the level of contempt this Conservative government has for parliament.

Labour is committed to ensuring that any future changes to the UK’s customs and tariff regime face full parliamentary scrutiny and be considered on a similar footing to changes to the UK tax system. We therefore intend to amend the taxation (cross-border trade) bill to reflect that commitment.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Minister contradicted vow that rights would not be lost after Brexit

  • Brexit bill leaves a hole in UK human rights

  • Brexit: Starmer to force vote on UK's adoption of EU charter of rights

  • Government backs down over EU human rights to avoid risk of defeat

  • What has the EU ever done for my … rights?

  • Dominic Grieve expects climbdown over post-Brexit human rights law

  • 'Great repeal bill' human rights clause sets up Brexit clash with Labour

  • Scared about your human rights after Brexit? You should be

Comments (…)

Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion

Most viewed

Most viewed