21 Conservative MPs are expelled from the party tonight
High-profile former Cabinet Ministers such as Philip Hammond, Ken Clarke, Justine Greening and Dominic Grieve are expelled
A quick run-down of tonight's events...
Firstly tonight, the Speaker and Remainer MPs conspired to have an emergency Section 24 Debate which breaks parliamentary rules and hands control of the House of Commons to the opposition. The Speaker was advised by Commons clerks this was unconstitutional as it was last March, yet he proceeded anyway in defiance.
The government then lost the vote, with 1 Conservative MP (Philip Lee) defecting to the Liberal Democrats and 21 others including former Chancellors Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond also rebelling and voting against the government.
Then, the Prime Minister announced his intention to forward a motion for a General Election.House of Commons votes 328 to 301 to approve the emergency debate motion on European Union (Withdrawal).
— UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) September 3, 2019
This removes control of the business on 4 September 2019 from the Government, enabling the introduction of further EU Withdrawal legislation. pic.twitter.com/CDRsRZli6S
At the same time, 21 Conservative MPs were being told they are being expelled from the party.
Utterly historic moments. The only similarity in history is the split of the Liberal Party, or the Corn Laws?The Tory chief whip has just stripped the whip from Philip Hammond, who was Tory chancellor of the exchequer barely a month ago, these are astonishing, epoch-defining historic events.....
— Jim Pickard 🐋 (@PickardJE) September 3, 2019
I am glad at the size of the rebellion though, my worry was that only a handful would actually rebel but that they would still seize control of the House of Commons timetable anyway, leaving us with the same problem of an internal fifth column.
Meanwhile, the man who Boris Johnson needs to talk to pretty soon cast a warning...
Think it ends here? Tomorrow MPs will vote on the EU extension bill, with Labour rebellions highly likely.I fear that we are rapidly headed towards a very dark place. pic.twitter.com/uGwhI6qJ6E
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) September 3, 2019
Thoughts?