UK Parliament / Open data

Business of the House

Proceeding contribution from Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 3 April 2019. It occurred during Debate on Business of the House.

I rise to support the motion, but I want to speak in particular to amendment (a), standing in the name of the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn).

We know that a good majority of Members in this House oppose a no-deal Brexit. In my relatively short time here in Parliament, I have understood our flexibility and that we can, at a pinch, do anything. We can revoke article 50, agree to a people�s vote or, with the motion from the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), ask the EU for a long extension. We will not crash out just by accident. If we do, it will be because of our active consent. It is our choice. I therefore want to address the question of what this House wants. That is the whole purpose of the indicative voting process. [ Interruption. ] If Members will forgive me, I will expand a little on the indicative voting process.

We know that every proposal so far has been defeated, some of them very narrowly. It is also true that neither the customs union nor the people�s vote achieved an overall majority in this House, which would be about 320 votes. It is my belief that we are just halfway through the indicative vote process. Many compelling options have not yet been proposed or voted on. The people�s vote proposal cannot stand alone. A new referendum always needs two choices.

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

657 c1081 

Session

2017-19

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber
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