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Cameron facing rebellion as he denies

MPs vote on European arrest warrant
Commons Speaker John Bercow says public would regard
surprise decision not to allow vote on EAW as contemptuous
Rowena Mason and Andrew Sparrow
The Guardian, Monday 10 November 2014 18.15 GMT

The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, said: I have given a fairly clear indication that this has been a
sorry saga, and the house should not be put in this position. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty
Images

David Cameron has withdrawn his commitment to holding a vote on the European
arrest warrant in a move that the Speaker of the House of Commons said would be
regarded as contemptuous by the public.
MPs from all parties lined up to criticise a government stitch-up as it emerged they
would be allowed to vote on only 11 relatively minor EU justice and home affairs
measures, not the whole package of 35 that includes the European arrest warrant.
The controversial warrant is backed by all three party leaders but opposed by dozens of
Conservative backbenchers over fears that Britons are being sent for trial abroad for
minor offences.

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Ministers insisted the government motion on 11 measures would be treated as a vote on

the package of 35.
But John Bercow, the Speaker, undermined this position by saying disinterested
experts had confirmed that the vote would have nothing to do with the European
arrest warrant.
In an extraordinary attack on the government, the Speaker said: I think I have given a
fairly clear indication that this has been a sorry saga. And the house should not be put in
this position. Most of us think that a commitment made is a commitment that should be
honoured, and we should try to operate according to sensible standards, rather than try
to slip things through through some sort of artifice.
It may be the sort of thing that some people think is very clever, but people outside of
the house expect straightforward dealing. And they are frankly contemptuous, and I use
the word advisably, contemptuous of what is not straight dealing. Lets try to learn from
this experience and do better.
He said that there was nothing in standing orders to allow a vote on one matter to be a
proxy on something else.
Labour and some Tory MPs tried to make a symbolic protest by voting against a
business motion that allowed for an extension of the debate beyond 90 minutes.
However, this was very narrowly won by the government by 251 votes to 241.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the debate was a joke and a shambles.
She pointed out that Cameron only promised a few weeks ago in the House of
Commons: I am not delaying a vote on it. There will be a vote on it.
Bill Cash, the Tory chairman of the European scrutiny committee, said it was a
disgraceful way to go about running government business. He said it was completely
unbelievable that Theresa May, the home secretary, would come to the house and
argue that the motion was about the European arrest warrant.
This is a travesty of our parliamentary proceedings, he said, saying he would vote
against a business motion. It is a trick. It is an attempt to get round the reality.
Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said it was a
shambolic attempt to get the motion through, while Sir Menzies Campbell, the former
Liberal Democrat leader, suggested it should be withdrawn.
Sir Richard Shepherd, a backbench Conservative MP, said the growth of executive
arrogance had grown unsupportable and suggested the MPs should talk out the
motion until it runs out of time.
After a series of Tory MPs stood up to condemn the government, Ken Clarke, the former
cabinet minister, intervened to say May should be allowed to explain the proposal.

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But Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Tory rightwinger, said the outrageous abuse of parliamentary
procedures and the fundamentally underhand tactics needed be debated fully by
backbenchers. The government was taking the way of tyranny by stopping the House
of Commons from holding the executive to account, he said.
Defending the position, May said she would treat the vote on the 11 measures as being a
vote on all 35, including the European arrest warrant. She said they were not all
mentioned in the motion because there was no need for them all to be transposed into
UK law.
The government is clear we will be bound by that vote, if the house chooses not to
transpose those measures, she said.
Ukip responded by saying it showed the public would not be able to trust the prime
minister to hold a European Union referendum.

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