Last week’s Parliamentary chaos - a landslide defeat for Theresa May on her deal on Tuesday, followed by the ruling by the Speaker that she cannot bring the deal back to MPs in its current form - demonstrate that Parliament’s processes for agreeing trade deals and other international treaties are embarrassingly inadequate.
In response to the gridlock, the EU’s Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier pointed the finger of blame directly at the UK Parliament. In contrast, the European Parliament and Council appear impressively clear-sighted and united - betraying barely any dissent to the EU’s negotiated deal.
It is easy to blame chaotic MPs who can’t sort out their differences and unite in the national interest. But last week’s chaos (and indeed the chaos of the last four months since May first put her deal before Parliament), results directly from the UK’s archaic process for scrutinising international treaties. This process only involves MPs at the very last minute, if at all, which means Parliamentary gridlock is inevitable.
