It’s crunch time once again for Theresa May’s government, as the House votes this afternoon on whether her ministers – including the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox – should be held in contempt of Parliament for not releasing the government’s legal advice on the backstop.
If the opposition motion passes, the matter will most likely be referred to the privileges committee, who will decide what action should be taken against the censured government ministers, and when it should come into effect. As they have the power to suspend MPs from the House, and with May’s big vote due in the Commons on 11 December, it’s no exaggeration to say that the seven MPs on the committee hold the Prime Minister’s fate in their hands.
Which is why it’s most fortunate for Theresa May that two of the three Conservative members on the committee have already been buttered up by the government in the recent past.
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