Boris Johnson’s bid to effectively tear up parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol has cleared its first Commons hurdle, with no Tory MPs voting against it despite warnings the plans are illegal.
MPs voted 295 to 221, majority of 74, to give the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill a second reading, which clears the way for it to undergo detailed scrutiny in the coming weeks.
Voting lists showed that dozens of Conservative MPs abstained, joining former prime minister Theresa May, who made clear she would not support the legislation as she warned it would “diminish” the UK’s global standing and delivered a withering assessment of its legality and impact.
Truss
It was left to Liz Truss to face the music in the Commons, sort of.
As Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted: “Very bad form. Liz Truss just left the chamber without listening to even two other speeches.
“Her bill gives enormous powers to the government without reference to parliament and she can’t even be bothered to listen to parliament.”
Very bad form. @trussliz just left the chamber without listening to even two other speeches. Her bill gives enormous powers to the government without reference to parliament and she can’t even be bothered to listen to parliament
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) June 27, 2022
During the short time she spent trying to explain why the government has broken the law, Truss came up with an excuse that doesn’t seem to have gone down that well.
Truss told the house she is “a patriot and a democrat,” which is why she ripped up parts of the protocol.
Try that with a police officer if you are ever arrested!
Watch
.@hilarybennmp asks Liz Truss if she’d ever imagined she’d be proposing something like this when she campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum. He also asks why the UK isn’t using legal method of Article 16. Truss replies she is `a patriot and a democrat’ 4/ pic.twitter.com/6kUEMCsaOD
— Joe Mayes (@Joe_Mayes) June 27, 2022
Reactions
Excuses like that get reactions like this:
1.
Boris Johnson is in Bavaria pledging allegiance to the ‘rules-based international system’ while Liz Truss is in Parliament confirming his government’s determination to crap all over it. What a time to be alive.
— James Oh Brien (@mrjamesob) June 27, 2022
2.
3.
It speaks volumes that this is Johnson’s most likely successor. Has there ever been a more shallow puddle of talent in a government? https://t.co/9hc9SZyYdJ
— Rich Neville (@RichNeville) June 27, 2022
4.
Bizarre. It’s tacky to accuse people who disagree with you of being unpatriotic; and the democratic mandate here is for the version of the withdrawal agreement that the Foreign Secretary campaigned for as an “oven ready deal”. https://t.co/NZyDnFYqXT
— Steve Peers (@StevePeers) June 27, 2022
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6.
Liz Truss, like Boris Johnson, appears willing to throw her own country’s moral pillars in the mud to act as stepping stones for her own vapid shell of ambition.
— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) June 28, 2022
7.
Liz Truss now says it’s her patriotic duty to break the law. Surprised Boris didn’t try that line
— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) June 27, 2022
8.
Listening to Liz Truss trying to defend her Protocol Bill would be comedy gold if the matter wasn’t so serious
— Stephen Farry MP (@StephenFarryMP) June 27, 2022
Related: Poll of polls show Brits have officially turned against Brexit
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/watch-liz-truss-excuse-for-govt-breaking-law-over-ni-protocol-leaves-people-baffled-327766/
