Attempts by backbench MPs to remove the government's power to deliver Brexit are "extremely concerning", Downing Street has said.
On Monday one group of MPs will present a bill that could allow Brexit to be delayed if Parliament does not approve an EU withdrawal agreement, reports BBC. According to the Sunday Times, another group led by Dominic Grieve wishes to pause Brexit by suspending Article 50.
But Downing Street said it was "vital" MPs delivered on the referendum result. A group of cross-party MPs will present a bill proposing that the UK extends its negotiations with the EU - if MPs do not approve a withdrawal agreement.
MPs have already rejected Theresa May's withdrawal agreement once, by 432 votes to 202.The new bill would give the prime minister until 26 February to get parliamentary approval for a deal. If the government fails to do that, the bill would allow Parliament to vote on an extension to Article 50, which would delay Brexit, and could prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
MPs voted in favor of invoking Article 50 - which allows the UK to leave the EU - in 2017.The new bill is being presented by Labour's Yvette Cooper, the Conservative former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, and Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, among others.
Ms Morgan told Sky News the law would have to be changed if the UK was to be prevented from leaving the EU without a deal in place on 29 March - and that is where the "very short" bill she is backing came in. But she said that to describe the move as a "coup" was "overblown":She said: "It's a strange sort of coup that starts with a whole bunch of democratically elected members of Parliament."
She conceded it was "unprecedented for backbenchers' business to take precedence over government business" but said it was confined to one issue - Brexit. According to the Sunday Times, backbench Tory Remainer Dominic Grieve has also been drafting a motion, with the express intention of suspending Article 50.A Downing Street source said plots to suspend Article 50 or outlaw a no-deal Brexit underlined why Leave MPs need to back Theresa May's withdrawal agreement.
The source said: "The British public voted to leave the European Union and it is vital that elected politicians deliver upon that verdict."Any attempt to remove the government's power to meet the legal conditions of an orderly exit at this moment of historic significance is extremely concerning."The source added the proposed bills and amendments showed "there is a danger that Parliament could stop Brexit".
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