Could MPs Really Stop A No-Deal Brexit?

21 November 2018, 20:53 | Updated: 21 November 2018, 20:58

Amber Rudd said Parliament would stop a no-deal Brexit, but could MPs do that alone? We asked a political scientist to give us his verdict.

Ms Rudd, who returned to the Cabinet last week, said on Wednesday that she expects MPs to approve Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

But, she claimed there were enough backbenchers to prevent a no-deal exit if the agreement is voted down.

So - do MPs really hold that power and what would happen if MPs rejected the PM’s deal?

Philip Cowley is a professor of politics and joined Iain Dale’s Cross Question panel on Wednesday night.

“It is true the arithmetic is such that given the options ruling out no deal certainly has more support in the Commons than anything else,” he said.

“But simply voting on a motion is not going to be enough, that motion will have no legislative effect.

“We are heading for a no deal unless there is legislation introduced in order to stop us leaving the European Union.

“I don’t think at the moment there are the numbers prepared to defy their whip to vote for a piece of legislation - and anyway who’d introduce that legislation because the government is not going to introduce that legislation?”

Watch the professor's analysis in full in the video above.