DUP vote no as MPs again fail to agree Brexit plan

After a second day of debate, a series of indicative votes in the Commons last night produced no clear solution.

Despite reports that the DUP was planning to abstain in the votes, all of which involved softer forms of Brexit or cancelling Brexit, in the end the party voted against every one of them – and was crucial to defeating three of the proposals.

Had the DUP abstained, the Customs Union plan would have passed, while two other motions – Common Market 2.0 or a confirmatory referendum on any deal – would have passed if the DUP had switched sides. Had Sinn Féin shown up to vote for the Customs Union, which fell just four votes short of a majority, it would have passed.

Tory MP Nick Boles dramatically resigned the Conservative whip in the chamber and walked out of the chamber in protest.

Had a consensus emerged, MPs were expected to take control of the Commons timetable again tomorrow in the hope of legislating for it.

During the debate, DUP MP Sammy Wilson complained that it had been “a hurried discussion about a wide range of solutions”. He said that the DUP had assessed each of the options based on whether “they deal with the toxic issue of the backstop” and also “will they deliver on what people voted for in the referendum”.

Tory veteran Europhile Ken Clarke, who had proposed keeping all of the UK in a customs union with the EU, put it to him that his proposal dealt with the DUP’s opposition to Northern Ireland being treated differently to the rest of the UK.

But Mr Wilson responded that doing so was only meeting one of the DUP’s two key criteria, the second of which was “would it deliver for what people voted for when they voted to leave the EU”.

Mr Wilson went on: “Of course, if we stay in the customs union or a customs union arrangement, if we stay with the degree of regulatory alignment which is required, then of course that would not deliver on what people have voted for.”

Mr Wilson said that even continued UK membership of the Customs Union would not in itself solve the Irish border issue “in the terms that the EU have expressed it” because “the single market rules are equally important” under what the EU says is necessary to ensure an open border.

Mr Wilson was also dismissive of the idea of a “confirmatory vote, saying that people had voted to leave – not to either remain or “half-remain”.

Earlier, facing questions from reporters in Belfast, DUP leader Arlene Foster yesterday denied that her party was split over Brexit, saying that reports that seven of her 10 MPs backed the deal were not true.

“No, there’s no splits within the Democratic Unionist Party,” she said. “I’m not quite sure where that’s coming from.”

Mrs Foster also denied claims that her party was in negotiations with Labour MPs on the Common Market 2.0 Brexit alternative. “We are not in any discussions with the Labour Party,” she said.

However, she did not rule out party support for a softer version of Brexit – one that would not include a backstop creating potential internal barriers within the UK.

“We have a very simple way of judging all of this,” said told reporters in Belfast when pressed on potential support for a soft Brexit. “It’s what will protect the Union and what will respect the referendum result and that’s always been our position.

“We have been very clear about our one red line and that remains the position. It’s of no surprise to anyone that the Union will always be our first priority and that still remains the case.”

Meanwhile, returning officers have been given authorisation to begin preparations for European elections in May as a “contingency” measure.

David Lidington, effectively the deputy prime minister, said returning officers would be reimbursed by Whitehall for “reasonable” expenses incurred to prepare for the May 23 poll, almost three years after the UK voted to quit the EU.

• Prime Minister Theresa May will again seek to break the Brexit deadlock when she gathers her Cabinet for crisis talks in Downing Street today.

Mrs May and her senior ministers will take stock after MPs last night again failed to find a majority for a series of alternatives to her Brexit deal.