UK MPs seeking US-style govt. shutdown amid Brexit row: Report
Some members of the British parliament are planning to shut down the government of Prime Minister Theresa May in order to block a disorderly exit from the European Union (EU), a new report has revealed.
The Metro newspaper said in a Sunday report on its website that several pro-EU lawmakers in the House of Commons were going to target government finances in a last-ditch effort to prevent a no-deal Brexit in March.
The MPs' plan included preventing the government from collecting taxes and performing other financial activities, according to the report.
The move could stop government financing and trigger a shutdown of departments like the ongoing government shutdown in the United States, where a row over President Donald Trump’s border wall with Mexico has caused around a quarter of federal government agencies to close down.
The British government has repeatedly said that if the Commons rejects its divorce deal with the EU in a vote in mid-January, Britain will have no option but to leave the bloc on March 29 without an agreement.
The scenario has caused widespread concerns among both pro- and anti-Brexit lawmakers, as they fear a no-deal exit would risk jobs and trigger economic chaos in Britain.
The report said opponents of government’s Brexit strategy were going to use their votes for two amendments to the Finance Bill on Tuesday to pressure the government to stop its plans for a no-deal Brexit.
The report said the MPs seeking to vote on the amendments were from various political parties, including from the ruling Conservative Party.
Yvette Cooper, a senior opposition Labour Party member, has tabled one of the amendments, which would prevent the Treasury, the UK government’s main finance and economic arm, from going ahead with no-deal Brexit plans without the consent of the Commons.
“The risks to our economy and security from no deal are far too high and it would be irresponsible to allow it to happen,” Cooper said, adding, “I do not believe Parliament would support no deal and Ministers should rule it out now. Time is running out and this is too serious for brinkmanship."
Two unidentified cabinet ministers admitted to Metro that the amendments will paralyze the government at the top.
Others said the measures will hamper government’s ability to collect crucial taxes and seriously affect its financial powers.
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