Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May humiliated as MPs back Oliver Letwin’s proposal for the Commons to seize control of Brexit… Parliament seized control of Brexit last night as three government ministers quit to give MPs the power to tear up Theresa May’s deal. The business minister Richard Harrington joined Alistair Burt and Steve Brine in effectively resigning as they joined 29 Tory MPs defying a three-line whip to defeat the government. The move means that MPs will take control of the Commons agenda tomorrow to begin a process that could result in parliament backing a softer Brexit. In a resignation letter Mr Harrington accused Mrs May of “playing roulette with the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of people in this country” by failing to rule out a no-deal exit. MPs backed by 329 to 302 the process of indicative votes set out in an amendment led by Sir Oliver Letwin, the former cabinet minister. The defeat came despite a personal appeal for loyalty by Mrs May. She had pledged that the government would give MPs the chance to hold so-called indicative votes but urged the Commons not to seize control of the process, saying that if it did so then parliament would “overturn the balance of our democratic institutions”. Earlier in the day the cabinet had wargamed scenarios for an election should MPs impose a Brexit outcome that the government could not support. – The Times (£) MPs back indicative votes to take control of Brexit process – Telegraph (£) MPs vote to take control of Brexit process for indicative votes – BBC News How MPs’ indicative votes could work – FT (£) > Today on BrexitCentral: MPs pass Letwin Amendment to seize control of the Commons agenda on Wednesday – how MPs voted …with three ministers quitting to help Parliament force a ‘softer’ Brexit Three Remain ministers last night quit the Government as thirty Tory MPs mounted a rebellion by backing a cross-bench bid to force a softer Brexit. Richard Harrington, a business minister, Alistair Burt, a foreign minister, and Steve Brine, a health minister, all quit the Government to support an amendment that allows “indicative” votes on Brexit. It comes despite stark warnings at Cabinet that the move could trigger a General Election if MPs opt to support staying in a Customs Union or the Single Market after Britain leaves the European Union. Mr Harrington, who spent the day seeking reassurances from the Government, accused the Prime Minister of playing “roulette” with people’s lives over no deal in his resignation letter. He said: “At this critical moment in our country’s history, I regret that the Government’s approach to Brexit is playing roulette with the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of people in this country. “I fear no deal would be part of a giant economic experiment that is championed by a small minority of the economics profession, a small minority of the Conservative Party, and a small minority of the country.” – Telegraph (£) Three ministers quit to vote against Theresa May to let MPs take control of Brexit – The Sun More than 100 Tories ready to kill May’s deal and ‘back Norway-style Brexit’, supporters claim More than 100 Tories currently “held prisoner” by Theresa May are ready to back a Norway style Brexit – its supporters claim. Labour’s Stephen Kinnock said he believed a large number of loyal Tories – including Ministers “on the payroll” will switch to backing the Norway option once her deal is defeated a third time. Mr Kinnock pointed out that 113 Tories voted for an extension to Brexit talks to avoid a No Deal. He said: “We have already had very productive conservations with the leader of the opposition. And we feel that once Theresa May’s deal has fallen, we can win a large enough number of Conservative members to gain a parliamentary majority.” It came as former Fisheries Minister George Eustice said he believed a majority of MPs would “get behind a variant of the Norway option”. And sources claimed the SNP were being courted in the hope the Scottish Nationalists could at least ‘abstain’ on the idea tomorrow when the House is expected to be given the chance to vote on other plans. – The Sun May admits she does not yet have ‘sufficient support’ for a third vote on her Brexit deal… Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons that there was still not enough support among MPs to bring her Brexit deal back for a third vote. May’s government has until March 29 to win parliamentary approval for her deal, which would allow the U.K. to leave the EU with an agreement on May 22. If she fails to do, or does not hold a vote, the U.K. would have until April 12 to propose a new way forward or leave without a deal. However, May has said that she will not bring her deal back until she is confident she can win. Speaking in the House of Commons Monday she said there was “still not sufficient support in the house to bring back the deal for a third meaningful vote.” She did not rule out an attempt later this week, but so far talks with her parliamentary allies the Democratic Unionist Party have not yielded a breakthrough, nor have Brexiteers in May’s own party indicated a change of heart in sufficient numbers. – Politico > On BrexitCentral: Prime Minister’s Statement on European Council summit – full text …as she clashes again with the DUP, dashing hopes of winning their support Theresa May’s hopes of pushing her Brexit deal through the House of Commons were dealt a blow on Monday as the party that sustains her minority government in power attacked the “scare tactics” of the UK prime minister. In bad-tempered Commons exchanges that marked a new low in relations between supposed parliamentary allies, Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party attacked Mrs May for a lack of preparation for Brexit and made clear its continuing opposition to her deal. Mrs May had been hoping that the 10 DUP MPs, who provide her government with its majority in parliament, would throw her a lifeline by backing the deal this week, so encouraging Eurosceptic Conservatives to rally around it. But DUP MPs responded furiously to Mrs May’s argument that she had agreed to delay Brexit from its scheduled date of 29 March, partly because Northern Ireland’s civil service “do not have the powers to take necessary decisions in the event of no deal”. Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s leader at Westminster, hit back that the government was “entirely responsible” for the “fundamental lack of preparation”. – FT (£) Theresa May infuriates DUP after blaming paralysis in Northern Ireland for Brexit delay – The Sun DUP rejects Theresa May’s personal plea to support her deal – Guardian Brussels confirms return of border checks under no-deal Brexit… British travellers will get a stamp in their passport every time they enter and leave the European Union in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the European commission has confirmed. The announcement on border checks was revealed days after the British government secured a short extension that shifts the Brexit deadline to 12 April. “The risk of a no-deal scenario is becoming increasingly likely,” an EU official said. The EU’s Brexit no-deal plans “cannot replicate the benefits of being an EU member” and were not “mini-deals or a negotiated no deal”, but unilateral measures to avoid disruption for the EU side, the official said. In an information notice, the commission confirmed that in the event of a no-deal UK nationals would have the right to visa-free travel for short stays in the EU (90 days in any 180-day period), if the UK grants the same arrangement to citizens of all EU member states. “Your passport will be stamped both when you enter the EU and when you leave it, so that this period of 90 days, which is visa-free, can be calculated.” British travellers would also lose access to the EU lane at border crossings, meaning longer queues. – Guardian …while also proposing invisible Irish border checks in the event of No Deal The EU announced it has “completed” planning for the event that the UK leaves the European Union on WTO terms, saying that it is “increasingly likely” that the UK will leave without a deal in mid April. They have hired 2,000 new customs officers and built 20 new border posts. Interestingly, when asked if there will be checkpoints at the Irish border, the EU said that they are “working very closely with Irish authorities to try and perform controls away from border”. The EU is happily talking about checks away from the border in the event of No Deal, but they refused to countenance those sort of alternative arrangements with the UK in the event of a deal. Guido can’t see this as anything other than blatant bad faith on the part of the EU. – Guido Fawkes Leo Varadkar confident of keeping border invisible in no-deal Brexit – Bloomberg Poll finds four in five Brits have lost confidence in May’s handling of the Brexit talks… Four in five Brits have lost confidence in Theresa May’s handling of the Brexit talks, a new poll today reveals. Some 81 per cent of voters now think the Government is handling the crunch talks badly – double the 41 per cent who said this in 2017. And confidence in the PM’s deal has also tanked. Nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of Brits think the country has got a bad deal – rocketing from 37 per cent in 2017. The proportion of voters worried the economy will be harmed by Brexit has soared from 46 per cent in 2017 to 58 per cent in 2019. Leave voters have become more gloomy, with 25 per cent now saying the economy will be worse off – up from 15 per cent in 2017. The survey of 2,654 people, was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). It is another major blow for Mrs May, who is facing mounting calls by angry Tories to quit. John Curtice, Senior Research Fellow at NatCen, said Leavers have become as angry with the PM’s deal as Remainers desperate to keep Britain in the EU. He said: “Given the polarisation of attitudes, there was always a risk that the Brexit negotiations would result in an outcome that would fail to satisfy most voters. But what, perhaps, is particularly remarkable is that Leave voters have become just as critical as Remain supporters of both the process and the outcome. That is not an outcome that would necessarily have been anticipated, and certainly does not help the Prime Minister in her efforts to secure parliamentary approval of the deal.” – The Sun …while further research suggests most voters believe Parliament is trying to block Brexit… Most voters believe Parliament is determined to block Brexit in defiance of the electorate’s will, a poll reveals. Some 55 per cent believe Parliament is determined to thwart Brexit, including almost two in five (38 per cent) Remain voters and 87 per cent of Leavers. Fewer than one in five (19 per cent) of the public disagree. The ComRes online poll of 2,030 British adults found most voters (54 per cent) also felt Remain-supporting MPs and other Establishment figures trying to stop Brexit had damaged the UK’s negotiating position with the EU, against just 24 per cent who disagreed. Two in five (41 per cent) agreed that instead of delaying Brexit, Britain should just leave to trade on WTO rules on March 29, compared to 28 per cent who disagreed. The potential damage to democracy is revealed the proportion of voters – 20 per cent – who say they will never vote again if MPs attempt to stop Brexit, including two in five (38 per cent) Leave voters. – Telegraph (£) …with most Brits insisting that the petition to cancel Brexit is totally irrelevant and MPs should just get on with leaving A remainer petition to stop Brexit by revoking Article 50 is “irrelevant” and MPs should just get on with it, most Brits think. More than half of people think the millions who have demanded Britain Remain in the EU shouldn’t force the PM’s hand. 52 per cent – including 28 per cent of Remainers – reckoned that petitions calling for the UK to stay are irrelevant compared to the historic result of the EU referendum, fresh polling from ComRes for Leave Means Leave reveals that. Just one in three voters disagreed and said we should listen to those calling for us to Remain. The news comes after the petition by die-hard EU lovers to revoke Article 50 passed five million signatures yesterday. It’s now the most signed petition ever by the House of Commons. But the signings are almost an exact replica of the areas which voted to Remain in the 2016 EU vote. – The Sun Cabinet ‘war game’ prepares for election to end Brexit stand-off Cabinet ministers yesterday “wargamed” how they might call a general election to break the Brexit deadlock. In an emergency meeting ministers debated whether they would have any choice other than to call an election if the UK were forced into a long Brexit delay or a softer Brexit. The debate came after Steve Barclay, the Brexit secretary, warned on Sunday that the risk of a general election was increasing. During the meeting Geoffrey Cox, the attorney-general, Sajid Javid, the home secretary, and Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House, were said to have agreed with Mr Barclay that if MPs mandate a long Brexit extension and a softer Brexit then an election might be inevitable. “It’s not just scaremongering, it’s the only way out of this,” said a source. The cabinet even discussed the circumstances under which Jeremy Corbyn could become prime minister even without an election. Under the provisions of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the government losing a vote of confidence in the Commons does not necessarily lead to an election. Instead there is a two-week period in which others can attempt to form a government that commands a majority of the Commons. – The Times (£) Britain lurches towards third General Election in four years – Daily Mail People’s Vote march claims that of one million protesters ‘demolished by experts’ who suggest it was actually 400,000 Staggering claims that a million people turned up for a People’s Vote march in London were demolished yesterday. Experts claimed the actual number who attended on Saturday may have been as little as 312,000 to 400,000, according to factchecking website Full Fact. They claimed People’s Vote’s figure that there were 4.5 people per square metre appeared wide of the mark. Professor Keith Still of Manchester Metropolitan University said it could have been as low as 2 per square metre along the route. Arch Tory Brexiteer David Jones said: “400,000 is a respectable number. But it is a pity that the organisers felt the need to inflate it so much. We should remember the silent majority of the 17.4million who want us to leave the EU, and whose votes must be respected.” – The Sun William Hague: Brexiteers will soon discover that all other deals are worse than Theresa May’s The upshot of the Prime Minister’s statement on Monday afternoon is that the House of Commons will finally get to vote on the alternatives to the Brexit deal they have twice rejected. It is understandable that ministers have long resisted such a moment, for if MPs actually managed to deliver a majority for a specific plan, it would be that much harder to justify yet another attempt to pass the one negotiated by the Government. Furthermore, if that plan is one that a large part of the Cabinet cannot stomach, then the constitutional crisis many of us have long feared would be upon us, and a general election not far away. Holding the “indicative votes” that now appear imminent might open the Pandora’s Box of extended and intensified political chaos, with the fall of the Government to boot. Yet the downside of the Government’s refusal, until now, to entertain votes for alternative plans is that any such plans have come under very little scrutiny. The pity is that there is likely to be just a few hours debate on them before votes are held, whereas it would have been quite revealing to spend a few days on each. – Lord Hague for the Telegraph (£) Madeline Grant: The anti-Brexit march revealed the polite face of tyranny As a firm Brexiteer who’s never been much of a marcher, I was quite surprised to find myself unexpectedly in the midst of the ‘Put It To The People’ protest in London after getting diverted to the wrong tube stop last weekend. Though estimates vary, and march numbers are often exaggerated by the participants, turnout was clearly in the hundreds of thousands. Most marchers seemed good natured and polite, save a few slogans of the “piss off Theresa May” variety and the ubiquitous “bollocks to Brexit” stickers. Although there were numerous teenagers present, I saw more from the Baby Boomer era – the average attendee had a retired Geography teacher vibe rather than that of a Morning Star-wielding anarchist. Not everyone on the march even wanted to reverse Brexit. Several Remainer friends who have just about reconciled themselves to the referendum result attended to express general rage and frustration at the Government’s handling of Brexit so far (fair enough). – Madeline Grant for the Telegraph (£) Liam Halligan: Theresa May’s deal is ghastly but it’s the last chance to make Brexit real and the only way the UK will quit the EU The public are crying out for Brexit – finally – to be done and dusted. Yet MPs keep arguing the toss over Parliamentary procedure, arcane amend-ments and non-binding votes. A No Deal Brexit, allowing Britain to “just leave” the European Union, is by no means the economic disaster Remain scaremongers claim. Talk of customs bottlenecks and planes not flying has been disproved as nonsense. Stop-gap agreements are in place. But, and it’s a huge but, the harsh, unavoidable truth is that No Deal — while technically in Theresa May’s gift — is not available. Our Remainer-stacked Parliament will use every trick in the book to block it. That’s the practical political reality. Outrageous, but true. Yes, admittedly, leaving with No Deal is for now the legal default. But anti-Brexit MPs have the numbers to wrest control of the Parliamentary agenda and pass primary legislation to prevent No Deal. That is why all Honourable members who believe in democracy must hold their collective nose and back Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement — which, while deeply imperfect, at least gets Brexit over the line. And if that backing is conditional on May standing down, even better. -Liam Halligan for The Sun Neva Sadikoglu-Novaky: Leaving the EU is an opportunity for greater localism, and to adapt our laws to suite our interests As we leave the EU, all our attention seems to be focused on the terms of our departure. While that is understandable, we must also not lose sight of the bigger picture – that is, what to do with the powers coming back from Brussels? Firstly, our withdrawal from the EU presents us with the opportunity to fine-tune laws set at the EU level so that they better reflect our national interests. Secondly, it presents an opportunity to pursue genuine localism – and empower our local communities to decide on local issues. Depending on the deal that is struck, we might find ourselves having to define our own public procurement rules, environmental policies, regional development, and agriculture policies. Needless to say, our legislators will be busy. Let’s look at how and why a national fine-tuning of EU legislation would be needed. When formulated at the EU level, legislation is made on the basis of compromises among the elected members of the European Parliament and the heads of state and government of the 28 EU countries. – Neva Sadikoglu-Novaky for ConservativeHome Oliver Wiseman: The ‘People’s Vote’ mask has slipped As the crisis in Westminster deepens, the campaigners working to make sure Brexit never happens are surely feeling more bullish than at any time since the 2016 referendum. If you have managed to circumvent the mainstream media’s nefarious efforts to stop you from hearing about it, you will know that the insurgency is gaining momentum. A million people joined an anti-Brexit march in central London on Saturday, while a petition on the issue has received more than five million signatures in the last week. But for all that the protest and petition are seen as complementary, their stated goals are actually contradictory. The placard-wavers in London were, according to the organisers, calling for Brexit to be put to the people in a second referendum. The petition demands something simpler – and less democratic. It says that Article 50 should be revoked altogether, arguing: “The government repeatedly claims exiting the EU is ‘the will of the people’. We need to put a stop to this claim by providing the strength of public support now, for remaining in the EU. A People’s Vote may not happen – so vote now.” – Oliver Wiseman for CapX John Redwood: The economic damage done by our membership of the EU Too many in the media just accept the assumption that we have done well out of being in the EU and will lose when we leave. There is little evidence to support either of these contentions. We joined in 1972. We were made to remove all tariffs on products the rest of the EU was good at, whilst they maintained many barriers to service exports which we were good at. As a result there was a predictable deterioration in our goods trade balance with the EU, and closure or slimming of many of our factories. Our car industry suffered heavily from the tariff free competition of VW, BMW, Mercedes, Renault, Fiat and the others. BLMC in particular had to slim and close plants. Our Lancashire cotton industry and Yorkshire woollen industry was hit by Italian and German textiles. Our ceramic tile industry was damaged by Italian competition and later by Spanish. In the 1970s we lost a lot of manufacturing capacity. The nationalised steel industry had to start closing its five new large scale plants for lack of demand as steel using industries fell away in the EEC. We also saw a further deterioration in our balance of payments as a result of high financial contributions we had to make to the EEC, as all those charges were negative flows across the exchanges. Soon after we joined there was a deep western slump which hit the UK particularly badly. Whilst this was not mainly the result of EEC membership, it exacerbated the bad trends EEC membership was causing. – John Redwood’s Diary Andrew Lilico: Don’t be fooled by the ‘indicative votes’ charade. MPs face a two-way choice: No Deal or No Brexit With no chance of May’s deal passing on a “meaningful vote”, the government now appears intent on holding a series of “indicative votes” on the way forward. Apparently the intention is to hold votes on a wide range of options, including revoking Article 50, a second referendum, a “Norway Plus” arrangement, May’s deal, May’s deal with the customs union made explicitly permanent, and no deal. In reality these come down to just three options. The first is no deal. The second option is May’s deal, whether that is in its current form with a very vague Political Declaration suggesting an indefinite customs union or by making having a customs union explicitly permanent. May’s deal with a more explicitly permanent Customs Union ambition would still involve the backstop, still mean paying £39bn with no guarantee of any trade deal to follow. And passing May’s deal plus a customs union with Labour frontbench votes would 100 per cent definitely mean the end of the Conservative Party. – Andrew Lilico for the Telegraph (£) Bruce Newsome: Theresa May has moved beyond dishonesty to despotism Failing to get her own way by mendacity, Mrs May is now evading the law and the legislature. She is executing personal diktats and international agreements outside of consultation or ratification by Parliament, outside of consultation with even her own Cabinet, outside of precedent, without due process, and contrary to statutes. She is acting unconstitutionally and unlawfully. The law she is now evading is the EU Withdrawal Act of June 2018. It is an act of many parts, but more on those later. One part effectively ratifies the international commitment that May triggered in March 2017 by petitioning to leave the EU under Article 50 of the EU constitution (the Treaty on European Union). Since Article 50 provides for two years between petition and separation, Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March at midnight Brussels time (2300 hours British time). The EU Withdrawal Act effectively ratifies that timing. – Bruce Newsome for The Conservative Woman The Sun: Labour’s ‘soft Brexit’ MPs should stop pretending and be honest with Leave voters — pick a Brexit stance There has been some rank dishonesty in the past three years, but Labour’s “soft Brexit” squad are in a league of their own. It is time they were open with their Leave constituents, and voters nationwide. If they want to cancel Brexit they should finally have the bottle to say so. If, however, they genuinely want Brexit to go ahead — even a soft one — they can only achieve it by backing Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement. It cannot be abandoned. It is the only exit door. The other options are No Deal, which MPs are hell-bent on avoiding, or stopping Brexit via a second referendum or revoking Article 50. Labour backbenchers talk up compromise. But what concession are they offering? Do they still seriously suggest Mrs May’s deal is “hard Brexit”? If so, why won’t “hard Brexiteers” back it? All MPs face a simple choice: Honour the referendum, or unleash chaos. Stop pretending. Pick one. – The Sun says Brexit in Brief How Britain can still prosper in land of the neverending Brexit – Matthew Lynn for the Telegraph (£) The money behind Remain – Robert Tombs for Briefings for Brexit Blundering mandarins put the wrong Brexit date on official No Deal documents – The Sun Commemorative Brexcoin cancelled – Guido Fawkes