Theresa May has insisted that MPs will be given a vote on the Brexit withdrawal deal as she faced the prospect of a Tory revolt and first Commons defeat on the issue.
The Prime Minister and Brexit Secretary David Davis have mounted a campaign to win over would-be rebels ahead of the crunch vote on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.
Rebel ringleader and former attorney general Dominic Grieve believes he has enough support to defeat the Government on Wednesday evening unless ministers give in and offer further guarantees about the nature of the vote MPs and peers will be given on the Brexit deal.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs May said: “We will put the final withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU to a vote in both Houses of Parliament before it comes into force.”
Westminster would be given a vote ahead of the European Parliament and “well before” the date of Brexit in March 2019.
“To be clear, the final deal will be agreed before we leave and Honourable and Right Honourable Members will get a vote on it,” she told the Commons.
Labour is set to back Mr Grieve and urged would-be rebels not to be bought off by “warm words and woolly concessions”.
Mr Grieve told Sky News that the Government was not listening to the concerns he had raised and had turned the issue into a “battle of wills” in a “completely pointless” way.
Mrs May said the withdrawal agreement with Brussels would be put into legislation “which will be subject to full parliamentary scrutiny”.
Further agreements on the future relationship between the UK and EU could require “further legislation where it’s needed to implement this into UK law, providing yet another opportunity for proper parliamentary scrutiny”, the Prime Minister said.
Mr Davis wrote to Tory MPs and issued a written ministerial statement committing the Government to “a number of votes” on the final deal struck with Brussels.
The Prime Minister’s lack of a majority leaves her vulnerable to any Commons revolt and, with up to 20 Tory MPs set to side with Mr Grieve in the division lobbies, she could face a damaging blow to her authority.
The assurances from Mrs May and Mr Davis may not go far enough to prevent a Brexit defeat on the eve of the Prime Minister’s attendance at a summit in Brussels with European Union counterparts.
Mr Grieve wants it written into the EU (Withdrawal) Bill that the Government can only implement elements of the withdrawal agreement once a statute allowing them to do so has been passed – a measure which appears to go beyond the promised vote on a resolution of both Houses.
The statute sought by Mr Grieve would undergo full parliamentary scrutiny – meaning it could be rewritten by MPs, potentially leaving the Government vulnerable to further revolts over elements of the withdrawal deal.
Mr Grieve said the Government was not listening to criticism.
“I hope the Government will move, irrespective of whether or not they think they are heading for a defeat,” he told Sky News.
“I have no desire to defeat my Government at all. I’m not a rebel. I think I have only rebelled once – over a local issue – in the 21 years I’ve been in Parliament.
“I don’t want to do that, but the Government needs to listen to what’s being said to them. And at the moment, unfortunately, my impression of the last few days, when I’ve been talking to the Government, is that it seems to be a bit of a dialogue of the deaf.
“They’ve turned this into a battle of wills. And this is a completely pointless exercise.
“They need to listen to the point that’s being made and they need to respond to it.”