Boris Johnson is edging towards the parliamentary numbers needed to pass a Brexit deal after more hardline Eurosceptics and pro-deal Labour MPs indicated they could back a new agreement made with the EU.
The prime minister will need to win over almost all the 28 Tory “Spartans” who held out against Theresa May’s deal if he manages to bring an agreement back from Brussels, as well as either the Democratic Unionist party or a chunk of Labour backbenchers.
There are signs that Tory Eurosceptics are moving towards backing an agreement, partly because they fear that Labour could try to push for a second referendum instead of an election.
Lee Rowley, a Conservative MP who voted down May’s deal three times, gave a loyal address after the Queens speech saying he had shifted his position and his view was that parliament must get Brexit done.
“We are in a hard place and all of us, whatever bench or chair we sit in, are responsible for where we end up,” he said. “In the last few days, there is at least hope that this toxic and crippling fog, which we have created, might just be lifting as the prime minister sketches the outline of a way forward – and I speak as someone who has been robust in my review of previous proposals, but the House must surely see that we have debated long enough.
“This is a moment for decision and we were elected to make decisions. If there is light at the end of the tunnel later this week, and heaven knows I hope there will be, we have a fundamental responsibility in this place to try and resolve this most vexed of problems and allow our despairing country to move on. For the health of our democracy and to restore faith in this most venerable of institutions, in my view we simply must get Brexit done.” [...]
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