Theresa May '˜set to avoid second Commons defeat'

Behind-the-scenes efforts to prevent a revolt appear to have resulted in a situation which will see March 29 2019 written into the Government’s Brexit legislation as the Prime Minister promised, but with flexibility allowing the date to be changed if negotiations with Brussels look set to stretch beyond that date. Rebels who helped inflict Mrs May’s first Commons defeat on Wednesday lined up behind the compromise, which has been put forward by prominent backbenchers on both sides of the EU referendum divide.

The Government is “looking closely” at the amendment tabled by MPs including Remain supporter Sir Oliver Letwin and Brexiteer Bernard Jenkin - which would give ministers flexibility to change the departure day if Parliament agrees. The Government has not formally supported the move but it would appear certain to back the measure if it presented a way for Mrs May to avoid another Commons reverse.

Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan, one of the rebels who helped inflict Mrs May’s first Commons defeat on Wednesday, gave her support to the compromise over the Brexit date. She said the new amendment “demonstrates how all Conservative MPs can work together” to deliver the best possible Brexit and reflects the flexibility within the Article 50 withdrawal process.

The amendment also emphasises that “Parliament will be fully involved in Brexit”, she said.

But a senior Leave-supporting Tory said the rebels had now accepted that Government ministers are in control of setting the Brexit date. “It is very reasonable for the Bill to mirror Article 50 more closely, but they have had to give up scrapping the date altogether and to accept that the Government remains in control of the date,” the MP said.

In an apparent indication of the efforts to find a compromise, Tory Chief Whip Julian Smith sent a cryptic tweet of an image of a telephone with a reference to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding and the message “great news and great example - agreeing the date shouldn’t be hard”.

The progress in the domestic Brexit battle came hours after Mrs May received a boost in Brussels, with the 27 other EU countries formally agreeing to allow negotiations to proceed to their second phase.

The Prime Minister made clear she wanted talks on post-Brexit trade relations with the EU to begin “straight away”, as the UK continues with its goal of negotiating a deal which can be signed immediately after the official date of departure. Her target was described as “realistic” but “dramatically difficult” to achieve by the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk. Mrs May was boosted by the terms of a statement agreed by the EU27 at the European Council summit in Brussels, which left the door open for “exploratory contacts” early in the New Year.