How close is Plan B for a People's Vote? David Wolchover reports
In the face of the anticipated defeat of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, a second referendum was increasingly being touted as the government’s lifeboat. Indeed, it might have been supposed that they were already preparing to clamber aboard, if any credence attached to reports that Downing Street and Conservative Central Office were working on contingency plans for a poll (see eg, Tim Shipman, ‘Theresa May’s team plots new EU referendum,’ The Times, 16 December 2018).
But a new study led by Professor Tim Bale of Queen Mary College and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) suggests that the government may now be under considerable Conservative constituency party pressure to continue to reject a referendum and to opt instead for a no-deal exit if or when the withdrawal agreement is rejected following the Commons ‘meaningful vote’ debate due to start on or about 9 January (see Rajeev Syal, ‘Brexit: most Tory
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