However, he won’t say whether or not he would resign if the Prime Minister pursued that course.
“Those who block a deal and then complain about no-deal, I think will have little cover when they next face the voters.”
“We can’t wait until a failure of the talks before we start to implement that reform programme. We have to begin it now, or nobody will take us seriously.”
On the Cooper amendment, 25 Labour MPs either rebelled or abstained – including half a dozen shadow ministers.
“Last night, the House set a clear direction on the way that the House could agree a deal.”
Details of the proposals negotiated to try to bring the Conservative Party together.
In the night’s only defeat for the Government, it passed by 318 votes to 310 – and with the largest rebellion from Conservative MPs.
Despite their support, the amendment fell by 322 to 290 votes.
The proposal was defeated by 321 to 301 votes.
Freeman joins the rebellion. But the amendment fell by 321 to 298.
He talks Brady, Norway, prorogation, and postponing Article 50, and explains why the ERG is “not a fourth party”. Plus: does the Queen listen to the Moggcast?
The Health Secretary says he “emphatically” does not want No Deal, but it is “incumbent” on those who share that view to support a solution.
Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister is blunt: “We have already agreed to a series of compromises.”
The Withdrawal Agreement is far from ideal, but strip it of its worst fault – the backstop – and we can build a viable majority to proceed.