Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Fear and loathing in the lobbies: how the government whipped against itself – and lost

With just a few minutes to go before the division on the government’s motion on no deal, Tory MPs’ phones started buzzing. It was a message from the whips, telling them that the free vote they’d been promised since last night was now subject to a three line whip: the strongest possible instruction on how to vote. But there was no further explanation. A message from Chris Pincher, the deputy chief whip, read:

‘We are voting no to the amended motion. This is a 3 line whip.’

It was sent at 7.31pm. Some Conservatives didn’t get this message until they were walking through the lobbies, still believing that, as Theresa May had promised last night, they could make their own decision on how to vote. They found themselves being accosted by the whips, who desperately tried to persuade them to turn around and walk through the correct lobby.

Chief whip Julian Smith blocked the path of some ministers, and attempted to redirect them. He had also managed to speak to some of the Cabinet ministers who then rebelled to clarify that the plans had changed to a three-line whip against the motion. Pincher was spotted deep in conversation with Steve Brine, a junior health minister, who then changed his direction and voted with the government and against the motion. Other bouts of arm-twisting were less successful: the government lost the vote on its own motion 321 votes to 278.

Why the panic? The Spelman amendment, which passed by just four votes, has no real legal force, though of course its supporters will argue that it has the moral force as the voice of the Commons to force the government to take the necessary legislative steps. Many MPs reported total confusion as they walked into the lobbies because no one had really considered what to do if the Spelman amendment passed.

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