Brexit
Out of context: Reply #980
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In an interview with Radio 5 Live Mark Francois, the Tory Brexiter and vice chair of the European Research Group, said that, even though MPs voted for the Brady amendment saying the backstop should be “replaced”, Theresa May never asked for this in her talks with the EU. He told 5 Live’s Emma Barnett:
What that [amendment] said was that they should ‘replace’ - that was the key word - the whole of the backstop. And the House of Commons voted for that. Almost the entire Conservative party voted for that, including almost the entire ERG. And the government begged us – and I use the word deliberately - to vote for the Brady amendment. That then gave the prime minister a mandate to go to Brussels and say, look, I have the support of the House of Commons to ask you to remove the backstop from the withdrawal agreement.
We now know they never asked. The government never formally requested that the EU should replace it. Even though they had a mandate from parliament.
Asked how he could be sure that May did not ask the EU to replace, he said:
We know from sources on the other side of the channel that they never asked .... We know from sources within the commission that she didn’t.
And asked why he thought May did not press the EU on this, Francois said:
Because she didn’t believe in it.
She’s never wanted to do it. She is stuck to plan A. She is absolutely wedded to her original withdrawal agreement.
from here: