28 January 2019•Update: 28 January 2019
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
A “managed no deal” cannot constitute the policy of any responsible British government, a cross-party parliamentary committee report said Monday on the eve of a new vote on a revised Brexit plan, and barely two months until the date set for Brexit.
The report by the Exiting the European Union Committee said the House of Commons have options to pursue “if the Government is able to identify a course of action that will be supported by the House of Commons.”
No-deal challenge
"Brexit was always going to lead to change for business with a range of new challenges but also opportunities,” the report said.
"However, businesses have had no certainty about what to prepare for and, in the event of a no-deal exit would face an abrupt change in trading circumstances which would represent a cliff edge for many—an abrupt change which concerned our predecessor Committee two years ago for which, it is clear, many businesses have not prepared."
The group of British parliamentarians said a no-deal exit could have a "very significant impact" on Britain's ability to compete around the world, with agriculture particularly hard hit, as it is likely to see the U.K. face tariffs on goods traded with European countries for the first time in decades.
The report also underlined that the government's planning for a no deal has relied on "assumptions" about how the EU will respond.
"There appears to be no majority in the House of Commons in favour of a no deal exit, although that remains the default outcome if the House of Commons is unable to approve the deal that has been reached or pass the legislation required to implement it in domestic law," the committee said.
"While the EU might agree to side deals to mitigate the worst of the disruption of a no deal outcome, this cannot be guaranteed, and we are concerned by the extent to which assumptions of an ongoing cooperative relationship underpin the Government’s no deal planning.”
“Since these assumptions cannot be guaranteed, a 'managed no deal' cannot constitute the policy of any responsible government," it said.
House should vote on Article 50 extension
The committee chair, Hilary Benn, said: “Despite the resounding defeat of the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration, the EU Withdrawal Act specifies that the UK’s ‘exit day’ will be 29 March at 11pm – deal or no deal.”
On Jan. 15, Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal was rejected by a majority of 230 votes in the House of Commons, giving her the worst defeat for a sitting government ever in the U.K.
“Having taken a wide range of evidence on the implications of a no deal Brexit, the committee is clear that this cannot be allowed to happen,” Benn said.
Benn said: “It would disrupt supply chains, create costs and uncertainty for businesses, threaten the reintroduction of tariffs and new non-tariff barriers which would affect competitiveness and many small businesses are not ready because they don’t know what to plan for. It would also raise questions in the minds of EU citizens here and British citizens living in other EU countries about their future rights and status and about how to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland.
“The suggestion that the UK might opt for a no deal outcome but assume that the EU will continue to act in a co-operative manner to avoid disruption, cannot seriously constitute the policy of any responsible Government.”
He added that the MPs “must be able to vote on extending Article 50” -- the part of the EU treaty under which Britain is leaving -- if the parliament “cannot reach agreement on a way forward before 29 March.”
Vote on Plan B
The House of Commons on Tuesday will vote on May's motion on her alternative strategy on Brexit, which is commonly known as Plan B but has been widely criticized as efforts to "run out the clock" by opposition parties.
Tomorrow's vote will be held following voting on amendments to be chosen by Parliament Speaker John Bercow, including Labour MP Yvette Cooper's intervention paving way to delay the Brexit date.
MPs will be asked to vote on whether the prime minister must seek a delay to the planned Brexit date of March 29 if no deal has been approved by Feb. 26.
