Davis had to answer an urgent question in the House yesterday to clear up the confusion he had created the day before. You can read the debate HERE. What comes over strongly is the number of MPs who are very unhappy at what the government has claimed is a "meaningful" vote on the deal with the EU. It was actually questions about the timing that forced him to the despatch box but in the debate that followed he had to fend off members anger about the vote itself.
Several times he repeated that MPs would be able to vote to accept the deal or reject it and move ahead without one. The whole thing is made worse by confusion surrounding Davis' insistence at the Select Committee that the withdrawal, transition and future relationship will be rolled into one deal. Hilary Benn told the House:
The Secretary of State told the Committee yesterday that the Government’s aim was to conclude one agreement covering the divorce, the transitional arrangements and the new deep and special partnership with the EU, but he has also accepted that the last of these has to be agreed by a different process because that deal could not be finally concluded until we had left the EU
But later in the debate Davis said:
In addition, the undertakings to this Chamber were given over and above the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. I remind the House that that means that any treaty—there may well be a number, as the Chair of the Select Committee said—is subject to being denied ratification by a vote of this House. That point should not be forgotten.
So the government doesn't even seem clear about how many deals, votes or treaties are going to be involved. It will be fascinating to see if their position on a meaningful vote survives in the withdrawal bill. I am sure they are well aware that parliament has an inbuilt and significant majority of remainers. Over 400 amendments have been tabled so far - see them all HERE. It's quite clear that the whole process is being incredibly badly managed and that Davis is totally out of his depth.
Davis has recently taken to emphasising that he is negotiating to get a deal and no deal is not his preferred outcome and yet this is the alternative he is offering MPs. It is a take it or leave it option and not meaningful at all. Most MPs are well aware of the catastrophe waiting for us if we leave without a deal and will be pressing to give parliament more options, including remaining in the EU I hope.
