SPEAKER John Bercow risked constitutional uproar today by declaring MPs will get a chance to stop No Deal – saying: “This Parliament can do as this Parliament thinks fit.”
He told a US audience it was “unimaginable” MPs won’t be able to act despite a No Deal exit being the legal default and warned “there are years of debate ahead” on Brexit.
Mr Bercow also fuelled the “people’s vote” campaign by suggesting MPs had the right to force a second referendum or even revoke Article 50.
He said: “They can’t be wished away or sniffed at, but these matters were matters decided by the last Parliament. No Parliament can bind the hands of its successor. This Parliament can do as this Parliament thinks fit.”
It came as Theresa May reiterated her position that the best option remained leaving with a deal.
Britain is on course to leave the EU on October 31 with or without a deal – unless the law is changed to extend further.
There is currently no provision for MPs to amend the law to stop Britain leaving without a deal and leadership contenders such as Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have warned they may end up going for it.
But Mr Bercow’s comments today signal he is willing to help create a way for MPs to block a No Deal Brexit.
This Parliament can do as this Parliament thinks fit
John Bercow
He said there was “no inevitability” about a No Deal Brexit and dismissed the suggestion that MPs had lost their chance to block No Deal once and for all.
The only way to completely rule out a No Deal Brexit is for Britain to revoke Article 50.
A request for a further extension could be blocked by just one EU member state – meaning Britain would leave without a deal on October 31.
Speaking at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC, the Speaker said: “There is a difference between a legal default position and what the interplay of different political forces in parliament will facilitate.”
He added: “The idea that parliament is going to be evacuated from the centre stage of debate on Brexit is unimaginable.”
“The appetite for the house to have its say has recently been whetted and that appetite is not exhausted. Indeed some would say it’s voracious.
“The house will want to have its say. The idea that the house will not have it say is for the birds. Parliament is a big player in this.
“The idea that Parliament is going to be evacuated from the centre stage of debate on Brexit is unimaginable. It is simply unimaginable.”
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen blasted: “This is further evidence – if ever we needed it – of his Remain-supporting bias throughout the Brexit process. He’s a self-proclaimed Remainer who has ripped out every rule of impartiality from the Speaker’s rulebook.
“Whoever the new leader of the Conservative party is will have to fight not only a Remain-dominated Parliament but also a Remain-supporting Speaker.”
He added: “One thing’s for certain – John Bercow, the impartial Speaker, always has his say – everyday in Parliament, it’s almost like Speaker’s Question Time with Points of Order.”
Ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “In respect of the Speaker, we are subject to European law until the day we leave and European law is very clear that we leave on a set date unless a request for an extension is made and the EU grants that extension. That’s it.
“So Parliament only gets its say in terms of legislation, it can’t take over the Government at any stage, it can’t run the legislative programme, so it’s European law that will get the final say.”
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