Rupa Huq was among the most outspoken in the House of Commons as MPs voted to take charge of Brexit away from the Conservative Party led UK government to hold a series of votes on the way forward later this week.
The Bangladeshi-origin Opposition Labour Party MP for Ealing Central and Action in west London confronted a beleaguered Theresa May to commit to a meeting with her in keeping with a letter the British Prime Minister wrote to MPs last week.
"Today in my constituency there are more people who signed a petition to unilaterally rescind Article 50 [reverse Brexit] than voted for the Conservative Party in the last election. If she [May] is serious, could we meet so we could thrash out a way forward and that London is not lost forever, because otherwise it just seems that she is listening all the time to the same old voices," Huq demanded in the House of Commons.
May, reeling from yet another Parliament defeat when MPs backed an amendment to seize control of Brexit by 329 to 302 votes, gave a cryptic response, saying she was always open to meeting members to discuss Brexit.
In a House of Commons vote on Monday night, many of her own party MPs including three ministers backed the motion which called for a series of “indicative votes” to be held to find alternatives to May’s controversial European Union (EU) divorce bill, which has been rejected twice before by Parliament. Theresa May has said she remains "sceptical" about the process as it was not guaranteed to produce a majority for any one course of action and refused to commit the government to abiding by any particular result at the end of Wednesday’s votes.
"The votes could lead to an outcome that is un-negotiable with the EU," she told MPs.
As part of the latest Commons high-drama, MPs voted in favour of Conservative backbencher Oliver Letwin's cross-party amendment to allow them to put forward motions relating to Brexit. It will give them a chance to weigh up a number of options on Wednesday – likely to include a so-called softer Brexit with closer alignment with the EU, a Customs Union with the EU, a second referendum on the decision leave the economic bloc and possibly even an option to revoke Article 50 and reverse Brexit altogether – designed to test which formula could command a Commons majority.
Three ministers – foreign affairs minister Alistair Burt, health minister Steve Brine, and business minister Richard Harrington – who went against the Cabinet’s collective responsibility principle to vote for the amendment, resigned from government. A total of 29 Tory MPs rebelled to vote for the motion, a scenario becoming all too familiar for Theresa May as her party members continue to defy government whips on parliamentary votes over Brexit.
It has inevitably intensified calls for her to step down in the face of her diminishing authority, with talk of a snap General Election also doing the rounds.
EU leaders have offered Britain a Brexit delay until May 22, if Prime Minister May’s deal is passed this week – overcoming the Irish backstop hurdle. However, without that Parliament backing, she must return to Brussels before Apr 12 and set out an alternative plan. The default legal option of Britain crashing out of the 28-member economic bloc without a deal in place has now effectively shifted from the initial Mar 29 deadline to Apr 12.
Theresa May’s backers are urging all sides of the Brexit divide to unite behind the British PM’s withdrawal agreement as the best possible option.
Parliament is also set to formally pass a law this week postponing the Brexit date from Mar 29, something already changed in international law.