How Theresa May's Resignation Could Get Her Deal Through Parliament
25 March 2019, 08:49 | Updated: 25 March 2019, 08:54
Conservative Brexiteers are calling for Theresa May to resign as the deadlock over leaving the European Union continues. LBC's Political Editor Theo Usherwood explains how she could use it to get her deal through parliament.
Theresa May’s cabinet meets this morning to agree Number 10’s plan for a series of indicative votes on Wednesday.
It is expected that MPs will vote tonight on a proposal to rest control of parliamentary timetable, and allow for a series of votes on alternative Brexit proposals.
These include revoking Article 50, a second referendum, a No Deal Brexit, PM’s own deal, a free trade agreement, and then two options which could well pass: a plan to remain in the customs union, and then remaining in the customs union with single market access.
If one of these two latter options passes it will happen because of an alliance of the Labour party, and Tory remainers.
Of course, the votes would not be legally-binding but they would allow the Prime Minister to present a new choice to Eurosceptics within her own party: my deal or a much softer Brexit.
That will inevitably send members of the European Research Group over the edge.
But by this stage the PM will have announced, or will be on the verge of announcing, the terms of her departure from Number 10.
That would pave the way for somebody else, like Michael Gove, to take over the next stage of the process, or just to hold the fort until a leadership contest can be held in the summer.
But the PM will need to ensure that if she is going to use her resignation as a final play to get her deal over the line, it does exactly that.
