The analysis shows 95.5% of MPs are unreliable.
Which MPs can Brexiteers really trust?
Today arch-Remoaning MPs Amber Rudd, Damien Green, Nicky Morgan, and Sir Nicholas Soames will launch a ‘Caucus’ to prevent democratic pro-Brexit MPs from becoming the leader of the Conservative Party.
Sir Nicholas told the Daily Telegraph: “We cannot succumb to the comfort blanket of populism.”
According to the Daily Telegraph, some 60 Conservative MPs including eight Remainer Cabinet Ministers are backing the campaign, named the “One Nation Caucus”. The group’s aim is to block the most sound Parliamentarians on Brexit from becoming leadership candidates, in the event that Theresa May is at some point dragged from №10 Downing Street.
Below is a list of MPs (I have included Labour MPs in this) who have proved to be the most reliable on Brexit.
MPs whom Brexiteers CAN rely on
Voted Leave in the Referendum
Voted against Mrs. May’s surrender treaty (the ‘Withdrawal Agreement’) on all three occasions
Voted for ‘no deal
There are just 29 MPs on our roll of honour. I made two small exceptions to THE rules for inclusion in the list. Dennis Skinner and Ronnie Campbell were absent for one of the three votes on the Prime Minister’s surrender treaty, but their records otherwise show them to be staunch Leavers.
29 MPs — just 4.5% of all voting MPs — are fully reliable
Of the 650 MPs, there are 639 MPs who usually vote. The Speaker and Deputy Speakers traditionally abstain and there are currently seven Sinn Fein MPs from Northern Ireland who refuse to take up their seats.
I fully admit that THE cut-offs for this list were fairly brutal. That said, in a world where trust in politicians is plumbing hitherto unknown depths I felt that readers would want to start with a list of those in whom we can have reasonable certainty when it comes to Brexit.
Where are the big hitters like Boris and Jacob?
Sadly a significant number of pro-Brexit MPs compromised their principles. In particular, some big names did this on the final vote for Mrs. May’s surrender treaty.
These included the likes of Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Dominic Raab.
Isn’t it extraordinary that I only managed to come up with 29 MPs in whom I felt we could have confidence based on a(albeit selective) criteria?
For the list to include less than 5% of all MPs is a sorry indictment of the state of British politics.
On a more positive note, there are some great names on the list. Firstly there’s David Jones, Anne Marie Morris, and Andrea Jenkyns, Then there are people like the Rt Hon Sir John Redwood and the Rt Hon Owen Paterson, Then we have individuals such as Steve Baker, former Brexit Minister, and Kate Hoey from Labour, who held out through immense pressure.
[ Sources: Hansard | MPs’ websites | Press interviews | House of Commons Library | And others ]
