Westminster

Listen: Headspace #37—The unbridgeable divide in the Tory Party

Conservative MP and Remainer Antoinette Sandbach joined the Prospect team as the EU withdrawal bill provokes another row in the Tory ranks

June 14, 2018
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This week saw a series of crunch votes in the commons on the EU withdrawal bill and the role of parliament in the exit process. The government escaped defeat—just—but only by making dramatic last minute concessions. It promised Tory Remainers that parliament will indeed play a significant role. Antoinette Sandbach was one of the MPs to receive personal assurances from the prime minister and she explains what was said.

But over recent days Brexiteers have insisted no such assurance can have been made. It has put the stark split in the Tory Party on display for all to see: can the PM appease both the Remainers and the Brexiteers on this and other issues? Sandbach is joined by Prospect’s Jay Elwes and Alex Dean.

*Update, 7pm: Reports suggest a clash between the rebels and the government over the wording of a new meaningful vote amendment

 

Previous episodes of Headspace can befound here