‘A dozen’ Tory MPs could back no confidence vote for no-deal Brexit
A group of Conservative MPs could put their weight behind a vote of no confidence to block a no-deal Brexit, a junior defence minister warned today.
Tobias Ellwood told the BBC that “a dozen or so” Tory MPs would use the measure, which could topple the government and trigger an election, if the UK left the European Union at the end of October without any legal agreement.
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The drastic suggestion to opt for the “nuclear option” is likely to put pressure of Boris Johnson, the current Conservative frontrunner to be Prime Minister.
Johnson has said the UK must leave the EU by 31 October regardless of whether a deal is reached between the two sides.
The comments come as a new report today concluded that alternative arrangements to the Irish backstop could be feasible within three years.
The cross-party report, backed by Tory MPs Nicky Morgan and Greg Hands, argues that a “practical” solution to the Brexit deadlock over the so-called Irish backstop could be implemented by 2022.
A resolution could enable the UK and EU to scrap the controversial backstop, which led parliament to reject Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times.
Read more: Brexit Irish backstop alternative could work within three years
The report ruled out “hi-tech unicorn” solutions put forward by some think tanks to avoid a hard border.
Instead it opted for measures such as trusted trader schemes and processes based on existing technology that could be implemented by 2022.
In a piece in the Times this morning, Morgan and Hands said: “Finding a solution to the Irish border issue, which protects and upholds the Good Friday agreement, avoids a ‘hard border’ on the island of Ireland, respects legitimate Irish and EU concerns, but which avoids the UK ever entering the so-called backstop, is critical to clearing the Brexit impasse.
“Today, we believe finding such a solution has taken a substantial step forward.”