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Motion to Extend Article 50 in No-Deal Case Aims to ‘Keep UK Bound to EU’ – MP

© AP Photo / Virginia MayoBritish Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and UK representative to the EU Tim Barrow arrive for an EU summit at the Europa building in Brussels on Thursday, June 22, 2017.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and UK representative to the EU Tim Barrow arrive for an EU summit at the Europa building in Brussels on Thursday, June 22, 2017. - Sputnik International
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LONDON (Sputnik) - A Labour amendment intended to potentially bind the UK government into an extension of Article 50 in the event of a likely no-deal Brexit is an attempt to circumvent the country’s withdrawal from the European Union, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative MP and the chair of the eurosceptic European Research Group, said.

"I think we are facing a really important point in our constitution because there are people who are trying very hard to stop Brexit … So they are going to do everything that they can, not to delay Brexit, not to get a deal but to keep us bound to the European Union. And that is what the Yvette Cooper bill is about, it's what the ‘losers' vote’ is about, it is in relation to stopping us leaving", Rees-Mogg said on Wednesday, addressing a meeting of the eurosceptic Bruges Group think tank.

READ MORE: EU Parl't Refuses to Back Brexit Deal Without Irish 'Backstop'

According to Rees-Mogg, pro-EU lawmakers are now attempting to "frighten" the populace into abandoning the entire Brexit process, while people expect that the results of the 2016 referendum "to be respected and not thwarted."

"I think they [pro-EU lawmakers] recognise the weight of public opinion to push through those acts was so great that they could not defy the will of the British people and now, as we get to sixty-five days to go, they are trying to frighten us into submission and they are trying to thwart what they themselves voted for. And this would be a constitutional outrage", he argued.

Nigel Farage - Sputnik International
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The amendment in question, which is meant to avert the prospect of the country exiting the bloc without any deal, was tabled on Monday by Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper. The motion aims to extend Article 50 in the event of the government failing to come up with a withdrawal plan acceptable to the parliament. The motion, set to be voted on January 29, has faced scathing criticism from pro-Brexit elements, while the Labor Party reportedly plans to whip its members to back the amendment.

The lawmaker went on further, suggesting that the parliament might be prorogued to stop what he says "unconstitutional" bill from passing through the legislature, and citing a historical precedent when the king had to interfere and dissolve the parliament.

READ MORE: 'Butcher of Iraq' Tony Blair Slammed Over 2nd Brexit Referendum Advice

The statements come as the United Kingdom remains locked in an ongoing political crisis following last week’s heavy defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal in parliament.

Although the government survived a vote of no-confidence the following evening, time is running out for it to come up with a plan B that would gain parliamentary approval and help avoid a no-deal Brexit.

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