Stephen Lloyd MP explains his latest Brexit indicative votes
and live on Freeview channel 276
Of the four options put forward by MPs, Mr Lloyd voted ‘yes’ for a Customs union and ‘yes’ for a Common Market 2.0.
He did not vote on the option for a second public vote and did not vote on the option to give Parliament the power to determine the next steps.
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Hide AdThis comes after the MP voted ‘yes’ last Wednesday (March 27) on Joanna Cherry’s motion to revoke Article 50 if the UK gets within days of leaving without a deal – a vote he was criticised for by some.
Mr Lloyd said, “I kept my promise to the town as I always do, and voted for the first two options as they would be withdrawing from the EU; abstained from the confirmatory vote option as I’ve promised I’d not back calls for a second referendum.
“And this time, unlike last week, did not support the revoke motion because though it kept the element which swung me last Friday; that we would ‘only’ revoke if a direct choice against leaving with no deal; they had added a line demanding a second referendum. And as I’ve already pointed out, this would breach my promise to our town.”
None of the proposals received a majority in the second round of voting, though the Customs union option lost by just three votes.
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Hide Ad“What this means is complete impasse,” said Mr Lloyd, “There is an urgent cabinet meeting going on right now to determine next steps but it’s difficult to see a clear way through.
“Paradoxically as the two key opposing sides doubled-down last night we now see that the most likely outcome could be the worse nightmare for each of them.
“Either crashing out with no deal, or a long extension in the EU as well as having to take part in the upcoming European elections. Sadly at the moment in Westminster, compromise is seen as a dirty word by some MPs, which I think is regrettable. And when no side has a majority, it leads to the logjam we have today.”