…As China opens its airspace for flights to reroute, after Pakistan airspace remains shut: Report***
Labour is moving towards a compromise plan that would allow Theresa May’s Brexit deal to pass but make clear that parliament “withholds support” until it has been put to a public vote, according to multiple party sources.
Those involved in talks said the Labour leadership was in favour of a redrafted amendment proposed by backbenchers Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, which would see the party abstain on the Brexit deal if a second referendum were promised on those terms.
Kyle said he was now confident the Labour leadership would
back his rewritten amendment, along with a number of Conservative MPs, meaning
there was an increasing prospect it would succeed. “I have every reason to
believe that this will get the necessary support when the time comes,” he said.
Senior Labour figures were unhappy that the original Kyle-Wilson amendment implied backing for May’s deal and a Tory Brexit. But Kyle said his amendment had now been recast in a way that commands the support of the Labour frontbench.
Under the new plan, the text of the amendment would make
clear MPs were “withholding support” from the legislation until the people were
given a decision in a second referendum. If it were to pass, Labour would then
abstain on May’s deal.
The Kyle-Wilson amendment is expected to be put to a parliamentary vote on the same day as May tries to get her revised Brexit deal through the House of Commons – before or on 12 March.
“This ticks every single box and is the only credible
proposal on the table right now,” Kyle said. “The amendment is full square
within the policy and stated objectives of Jeremy and the party on a second
referendum.”
Kyle said he had spoken to a huge breadth of MPs from John McDonnell and Keir Starmer to a number of people in May’s own cabinet as well as more junior ministers, and was confident it could pass.
Labour sources said Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary,
was still consulting widely across the parliamentary party to find a form of
words that could win majority support.
But several MPs told the Guardian they believed Labour would
now whip in favour of the redrafted Kyle-Wilson amendment.
McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, told ITV’s Peston that
Labour would put forward its own amendment in favour of a second referendum
when May puts her Brexit deal to a vote in the House of Commons.
“When the meaningful vote comes back – and we are told maybe
that might be on 12 March – there are rumours today that it could be next week
… That’s the time when we will have to put the amendment up,” he said.
McDonnell stressed that Jeremy Corbyn’s party would also continue to press for its own Brexit vision and was still calling for a general election.
Clive Lewis, a shadow minister and supporter of a second
referendum, said there “should be no sense of triumphalism” as it was a
difficult situation for many Labour MPs because of the many varied views on
Brexit within the party.
But he said the Kyle-Wilson amendment was acceptable to
people from different positions. “There are lots of other countries where you
have had a separate ratification referendum to reinforce what the public
wants,” he said.
However, Labour is still facing fresh divisions over the
timing and strategy for backing a second referendum, with some anti-Brexit MPs
worried it will be put to a vote and defeated before there is a real chance of
a parliamentary majority.
A number of Labour and Conservative MPs who support the
people’s vote campaign said they believed 12 March may be too early to generate
enough support across the Commons for a second referendum.
As it stands, a second referendum amendment on the same day
as May’s meaningful vote would have to be voted on first, meaning MPs would
have to make a decision on backing it before it was clear whether the prime
minister’s agreement would pass.
“At most you will get 10 Tories if it’s put to a vote then.
That is nowhere near enough to offset the Labour MPs who are not on board for
whatever reason,” said one MP who intended to back any amendment for a second
referendum. “You have to wonder if the Labour leadership are serious about the
amendment passing.”
Another Labour MP suggested the timing made it look like
Labour was “simply going through the motions” of backing a second referendum,
without giving proper thought to how best to maximise support.
However, one shadow minister who strongly supports a second
referendum also said the timing was not a huge issue as there could be another
attempt at achieving a people’s vote if May’s deal is brought back to the
Commons a third time when a no-deal Brexit is a much more serious possibility.
“We think there are certain scenarios where it could pass. There is a path to a
second referendum through parliament and that is what we are pushing the
leadership to get to,” he said.
But a Labour MP with a strongly leave-voting constituency said the numbers who were against a second referendum were far greater than they had previously encountered. “There are people who I had down as committed members of the people’s vote campaign, just because of their politics and where their seats are, who have now privately said they would vote against it. All this is going to do is horribly expose yet another deep chasm in the PLP,” he said.
In the meantime, as Pakistan airspace continues to be closed
due to mounting tensions with India, China has opened a part of its airspace
for foreign airlines to reroute, the Global Times reported.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) launched
an emergency plan under which it has notified domestic flight companies and
asked them to cooperate with the air force to ensure the safety of flights and
implement temporary flight plans. The direction came after the Beijing Capital
International Airport cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan on Wednesday
and Thursday.
Thousands of air travellers have been stranded worldwide due
to Pakistan closing its airspace. However on Thursday, Pakistan partially
opened the airspace and assured that it would be fully reopened by Friday. The
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had on Thursday temporarily restored Pakistani
airspace for commercial aviation, allowing some flights to depart.
At least three commercial flights departed from Pakistan on
Thursday. The three flights included Emirates flight number EK637 from Peshawar
to Dubai, Air Arabia G9825 from Peshawar to Ras Al Khaimah, and Qatar Airways
QR601 from Peshawar to Doha. The CAA in its latest Notice to Airmen (NOTAM)
said the airspace would remain closed until 1 PM Pakistan Standard Time on
Friday.
The closure of Pakistan’s airspace disrupted major routes
between Europe and South East Asia. Various airlines such as Air India, Jet
Airways, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines had on Wednesday announced they
were rerouting their flights as Pakistan closed its airspace. Thai Airways has
cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers. The decision affected
its services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm,
Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo.
Singapore Airlines’ was forced to direct flights to Europe to re-fuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Emirates also cancelled 10 return flights to Pakistan while Qatar Airways pulled flights to Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan.
Guardian UK with additional report from Zee News
