Share: LONDON - MPs are set to vote on a second referendum amendment for the first time as well as on a cross-party proposal that would allow the Commons to take control of the Brexit process from the beleaguered Theresa May. The Speaker unexpectedly selected a second referendum amendment from Sarah Wollaston for voting on Thursday night. Wollaston, who recently defected from the Conservatives to the Independent Group (TIG), has won support from the Lib Dems for her amendment. It says the UK’s exit from the EU should be delayed for the purpose of legislating for and conducting a public vote in which staying in the bloc is an option on the ballot paper. But it creates a dilemma for Labour’s leadership. The party has said it would support a second referendum amendment to “stop a damaging Tory Brexit”, but there are at least two dozen Labour backbenchers hostile to the idea. Early indications were that the Labour front bench would abstain so killing it off for Thursday, according to several of the party’s MPs, who argued it was too soon to put the issue to the Commons. One MP said: “This looks like pure political posturing by TIG – instead of focusing on the key issue today which is securing an extension which could actually deliver a People’s vote.” Alastair Campbell, a leading figure in the People’s Vote campaign, agreed. The former Labour spin doctor said it was “wrong to press a People’s Vote extension today when the issue is [article 50] extension”. Arguing that a second referendum was “a possible solution to the current crisis, not an option within it”, Campbell added there would be more opportunities ahead when other options to solve the Brexit crisis had been exhausted. Caroline Flint, a Labour MP opposed to a second referendum, said she was “really delighted” that Bercow had selected the amendment because she would have the opportunity to vote against it. “I urge the House to oppose a second referendum,” Flint added. The amendment with the best chance of passing is the backbenchers’ proposal submitted by Labour’s Hilary Benn and supported by his fellow Labour MP Yvette Cooper plus seven others including the Conservatives Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve. The amendment says it is designed “to enable the House of Commons to find a way forward that can command majority support” by effectively allowing MPs to wrest control of parliamentary time from May’s government. The debate on Wednesday would allow the Commons to decide whether to hold a series of indicative votes to find which Brexit approach could command a majority in the house. It is also supported by SNP, Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru MPs. The amendments are two of four amendments taken by the Speaker for Thursday evening’s vote on extending article 50. Voting is expected to start at about 5pm. But there were complaints in the Commons after Bercow refused to select another amendment, opposing a second referendum, which had attracted the support of 111 MPs, mostly hard-Brexit Tories, with the support of the DUP and a handful Labour MPs. It called on MPs to declare that “the result of the 2016 EU referendum should be respected and that a second EU referendum would be divisive and expensive and therefore should not take place”. Signatories of the amendment in the name of the Conservative MP Lee Rowley included Boris Johnson and Bill Cash plus the DUP’s Nigel Dodds and Labour MPs including Gareth Snell, Caroline Flint, Denis Skinner, Kate Hoey and John Mann. A Labour frontbench amendment, chosen by the Bercow, instructs May to seek an unspecified extension to article 50 to avoid exiting the EU on 29 March without a deal and “to provide parliamentary time for this house to find a majority for a different approach.”. That would imply a long extension as few believe that a radically different Brexit deal to the one already negotiated by May can be agreed quickly with the EU. The fourth and final amendment selected by Bercow came from Chris Bryant, a Labour backbencher. Bryant wants MPs to vote on whether they believe that Theresa May can put an unchanged Brexit deal before the Commons to a vote. Parliamentary precedent holds that the government cannot ask MPs to vote twice on the same issue during the same session of parliament, to prevent the executive bullying the Commons by putting the same measure to a vote repeatedly. The main other second referendum amendment came from the SNP, which called for an extension to article 50 in time to hold a second referendum. It added that “Scotland must not be taken out of the European Union against its will”. But it was not selected for debate.<doc-sep>THE British Labour Party will not support a proposal for a second Brexit referendum due to be voted on in the House of Commons later on Thursday, the party's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said. The British Parliament will later vote on a government proposal for a three-month delay to the Article 50 Brexit negotiation period if a deal is approved by March 20, and a longer delay if it is not. MPs have proposed changes to that including one, amendment H, which says a delay should be used to hold a second referendum. "We will not be supporting H tonight," Starmer told the House of Commons. "Today is about the question of whether Article 50 should be extended." Starmer said Labour would support holding a public vote on any Brexit deal which is approved by parliament. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May has piled renewed pressure on reluctant MPs to back her EU divorce deal at the third time of asking. Expand Close DUP leader Arlene Foster. Photo: Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DUP leader Arlene Foster. Photo: Getty Images Two weeks before Britain is due to leave the European Union, Mrs May is using the threat of a long extension to the Brexit deadline to push eurosceptic rebels in her Conservative Party to finally back her deal. That vote could come next week. Her authority hit an all-time low this week after a series of parliamentary defeats and rebellions, but finance minister Philip Hammond said her plan was back on the agenda. That plan, struck by May after two-and-a-half years of negotiations with the EU, was defeated heavily in parliament in January and again on Tuesday. "Quite a number of colleagues changed their mind on this issue between the January vote and the vote earlier this week," Hammond told Sky News. "It's clear that the House of Commons has to find a consensus around something, and if it isn't the prime minister's deal I think it is likely to be something which is much less to the taste of those on the hard Brexit wing of my party." Although the House of Commons on Wednesday voted against the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, the default position if nothing else is agreed remains that Britain will exit without a transition arrangement on March 29, a scenario business leaders warn would bring chaos to markets and supply chains. Brexit supporters say in the longer term it would allow Britain to thrive and forge trade deals across the world. Mrs May will put her deal to another vote if the circumstances are right, her spokesman said. "If it was felt that it were worthwhile to bring back a new vote, then that's what we would do. But that's a decision we would have to judge on circumstances at the time," he said. European Union leaders meeting next week will consider pressing Britain to delay Brexit by at least a year to find a way through its domestic deadlock, an EU official said. "I will appeal to the EU27 to be open to a long extension if the UK finds it necessary to rethink its Brexit strategy and build consensus around it," European Council President Donald Tusk said, referring to EU leaders who will meet May next Thursday and must agree to any extension. But there was no sign the prospect of a long delay - which could lead to Britain having closer ties to the EU than planned by May or even a second Brexit referendum - was causing a major shift in the views of pro-Brexit lawmakers who have so far thwarted May. Andrew Bridgen, a eurosceptic from May's Conservative Party accused her of pursuing a "scorched earth" policy of destroying all other Brexit options to leave lawmakers with a choice between her deal and a delay of a year or more. Another eurosceptic Conservative lawmaker said he would not vote for her deal, even if there was a risk of a long Brexit delay. "If it's a rancid deal, why vote for it?" Mark Francois told BBC television. BREXIT DAY May also needs to win over the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) that props up her minority government in parliament and which has so far refused to back her plan. DUP leader Arlene Foster said the party was working with the government to try to find a way of leaving the EU with a deal. On Wednesday, parliament rejected leaving the EU without a deal, paving the way for Thursday's vote that could delay Brexit until at least the end of June. While the motion approved by parliament has no legal force - March 29 remains the day enshrined in law that Britain will leave the EU - and ultimately may not prevent a no-deal exit, it carries considerable political force. Sterling surged, hitting nine-month highs against the U.S. dollar and a nearly two-year high against the euro, as investors saw less chance of Britain leaving the EU without a transition deal to smooth its exit. It lost some of those gains on Thursday. Although May supported the idea of ruling out a no-deal Brexit in the short term, she suffered another humiliation when - in an evening of parliamentary mayhem on Wednesday - four of her ministers disobeyed her by abstaining from a vote on an amendment which ruled out a no-deal Brexit in any circumstances. The amendment was passed by parliament. Online Editors<doc-sep>Voting is set to begin at 17:00 GMT while UK PM Theresa May holds a political cabinet meeting at 13:30 GMT. On Wednesday, the House rejected leaving the European Union without an accord after rejecting May's deal on Tuesday. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow selects four amendments for a vote ahead of the primary motion to ask for an extension of Article 50. One of the amendments, H, calls for a second Brexit referendum. Bercow selected three other amendments, but these do not include one that would have rejected a second referendum. Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. 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The UK Parliament defeated a measure to hold a second referendum on Wednesday, turning down a chance to hold a people’s vote on the future of Brexit. The decision came as part of Thursday’s vote on whether Parliament will ask the European Union to extend the Brexit deadline. Sarah Wollaston, a former Conservative member of Parliament (MP) who recently joined the breakaway Independent Group, put forth the amendment, which specifically requested a delay from the EU to put the question of Brexit — whether, or how, the UK will leave the EU — back to the public for a vote. MPs voted against it, 85 to 334 — a huge loss that wasn’t all that surprising because even some referendum advocates argued that Thursday wasn’t the time to take up the issue. Labour, the main opposition party, whipped its members to abstain from voting. Even strong backers of a second referendum, such as the main advocacy group, the People’s Vote campaign, were lukewarm about the vote on Thursday, saying MPs should simply focus on achieving a Brexit deadline extension. The group said the debate over the second referendum could come later, and supporters of a second referendum wrote an open letter explaining their decision to abstain. “We do not think today is the right time to test the will of the House on the case for a new public vote,” a spokesperson for the group said in a statement earlier on Thursday. “This is the time for Parliament to declare it wants an extension of Article 50 so that, after two-and-a-half years of vexed negotiations, our political leaders can finally decide on what Brexit means.” Voting for a #PeoplesVote. Where is the rest of the Labour Party? A few notable exceptions but... pic.twitter.com/pSP9C6wJDW — Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) March 14, 2019 This was one of the first times Parliament has voted on an amendment that took up the question of holding a second referendum — and, depending on how things play out with the rest of Thursday’s votes — it probably won’t be the last. A second referendum could offer the people another chance to vote on Brexit. But it’s not without its problems. A second referendum has some strong advocates in Parliament in both the Labour and Conservative parties and among some of the more “Remain”-minded voters. British Prime Minister Theresa May has continued to reject the idea as undemocratic, insisting that the UK already made its decision during the 2016 referendum and that it’s her job to deliver on that result. The People’s Vote campaign argues that it’s impossible to “undo democracy by having more democracy,” but another such vote is sure to be divisive, as the UK is still deeply split on the Brexit question. Practical complications abound with a second referendum. It would certainly require a long-term extension of the Brexit deadline (estimates say about 22 weeks). It’s also not clear what questions would be asked in any such vote. The People’s Vote campaign is promoting a referendum offering a choice between May’s deal — the 585-page one — and the “current deal,” which is basically EU membership and the status quo. But some have suggested three options: no-deal Brexit, May’s deal, and Remain, which could potentially split votes, leading to an outcome few desire. This debate is far from over, though. If the UK Parliament votes to postpone the Brexit deadline beyond March 29, which seems likely, members of Parliament will then have to figure out what they’re going to do with more time, provided the European Union agrees to an extension. Supporters of a second referendum will seize on that opportunity to build their case.