‘Parliament voted for it!’ Lord Heseltine told MPs cannot block no deal

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is currently facing threats from pro-EU MPs within his own party, who have hinted they could vote against him in a potential no-confidence vote to try to block a no deal Brexit. However, Sky News presenter Ed Conway, standing in for Sophy Ridge, pointed out that Parliament has “already voted for no deal” through the Article 50 process. Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Conway said: “Lord Heseltine, one of the things that Parliament has done is to vote for Article 50.

“One of the upshots of Article 50, I mean it’s maybe there in the small print but nevertheless it is very much there, is that if there is no deal then the UK would leave at the end of the deadline.

“So Parliament has actually voted for a process that leads to no deal haven’t they?”

Lord Heseltine disagreed: “No, no, no, no. When we did the referendum it was clearly stated by the Leave campaign that they were not going for a no deal.

“In March this year Michael Gove clearly said that they did not want a no deal.

“There is no majority for no deal.”

Mr Conway hit back: “But it was there in Article 50, part of Article 50 it says ‘there will be no deal if there is no deal’.

“There is a deadline and if nothing is reached by that, there is no deal. That is part of the process of leaving.”

The ‘People’s Vote’ supporter said: “Well that is not what Parliament voted for and it is quite clear that Parliament will not vote for that.

“There is no majority in Parliament, no majority in the country, for no deal.”

Since taking over as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson has repeatedly demanded the backstop mechanism within the withdrawal agreement is rejected, to allow Brexit talks with the EU to resume.

But so far, there has been zero movement from the bloc.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to a science centre in Abingdon, Mr Johnson said: “We are going to leave the European Union on October 31 which is what the people of this country voted for.

“It’s what MPs voted for, and that’s what I think parliamentarians of this country should get on and do.

“I think that MPs should get on and deliver on what they have promised over and over and over again to the people of this country, they will deliver on the mandate of 2016 and leave the EU on October 31.”

Despite facing threats from pro-EU MPs within his own party, Mr Johnson’s team are confident the UK would be able to leave the EU on October 31, even if they lost a no-confidence vote.

His team also believe they will potentially be able to push a future general election until after Britain has already left the bloc.

Rebels have hinted under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, if the Government lost a vote of no-confidence MPs could seek to put a new government of national unity in its place – before going to the EU to ask for a further Brexit extension.