UK: Lawmakers support amendment removing Irish backstop

LONDON

Britain’s parliament gave Prime Minister Theresa May a mandate late Tuesday to remove the backstop clause from her Brexit deal and negotiate “alternative arrangements” with the European Union to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

The amendment to the EU Withdrawal Agreement, submitted by Conservative MP Graham Brady, saw 317 MPs voting in favor and 301 against.

May said in a statement following the vote that it is now clear that there is a route that can get a “substantial and sustainable majority in this House for leaving the EU with a deal”.

The Brady amendment “requires the Northern Ireland backstop to be replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border, supports leaving the EU with a deal and would therefore support the withdrawal agreement subject to this change”.

The government, however, was defeated in a vote over a separate but non-binding amendment by Conservative MP Caroline Spelman.

The amendment, which rejected the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement and a framework for a future relationship, was backed by 318 MPs and rejected by 310.

The government won on all other amendments, including one proposed by Labour MP Yvette Cooper that failed to win enough votes and which would have required the government to postpone Brexit by up to nine months if it failed to secure a deal by Feb. 26.

Earlier Tuesday, May’s spokesperson said May had told EU leaders that she intends to re-open Brexit negotiations to get her deal through parliament.

The EU has repeatedly said they would not renegotiate the agreed deal but would consider extending the Article 50 process.

Prior to the House of Commons votes, French President Emmanuel Macron said there will be no renegotiation of the Irish backstop as Brussels had prepared a similar rebuff should it be passed by parliament.

Speaking in Cyprus, Macron said the withdrawal agreement, including the Irish backstop, “is the best accord possible”.

“It is not renegotiable,” he added.

The UK is set to leave the EU on March 29 as a result of a public vote held in June 2016.

- Irish border and backstop

As the UK will leave the bloc, the border between Northern Ireland – a UK territory – and the Republic of Ireland will remain the only land border between the UK and the EU.

The border at the moment is invisible, and people, goods and services can travel through it freely. But as the UK leaves the EU, the border, technically, will need some sort of checks.

Due to the sensitive nature of the region and because free passage is one of the crucial articles of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the UK, EU, Northern Ireland and Ireland all reject the idea of returning to a hard border where checkpoints and customs buildings will need to be installed.

The border issue has been one of the thorniest in Brexit talks, as a solution that would be acceptable for all sides is still to be reached.

The main disagreement over the border issue has been over a EU-suggested backstop – keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market and customs union after Brexit until a solution is found – because it would create a sort of a border within the UK in the Irish Sea.

May has continuously said they would not give in to any solution that would divide the UK.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is also Northern Ireland’s biggest political party, has said it would not agree on any final deal that would separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

Therefore, May negotiated a backstop for the whole of the UK and the deal included this after an agreement was reached with the EU. However, the deal was rejected by lawmakers with a majority of 230 votes in a vote on Jan. 15.