Conservative MPs have accused ministers of running a “rigged” process to force through Rishi Sunak’s post-Brexit deal with the EU over Northern Ireland.
Brexit-supporting backbenchers rounded on the government during a heated committee debate on Monday night over the tactics used to pass aspects of the Windsor framework.
The row engulfed what should have been a relatively straightforward process for ministers to wave through parts of the agreement that have not been debated on the floor of the House of Commons in a sign that Sunak’s difficulties with his own backbenchers over Brexit are not yet over.
The dispute emerged on Monday afternoon, hours before a planned committee session to debate elements of the Windsor framework that relate to postal deliveries. Under the plans, some parcels travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be subject to customs checks for the first time.
A committee of MPs was due to vote on the legislation on Monday evening, but when government whips discovered that five of the 10 Conservatives on the committee were planning to raise objections or vote against it, they replaced them with just hours to go.
James Duddridge, one of those who was replaced, told the Commons on Monday afternoon that he had been urged by the whips to stand down. When he refused, he said, he was replaced. “I said that I would probably want to probe and query it – as is my right as a member of parliament – and perhaps even vote against it,” he told fellow MPs.
“I was asked whether I would like to be replaced; I said no. I was asked whether I would like to take the week off; I said no. This morning I found that I had been replaced because the government had thought that the sitting might continue for as long as 90 minutes, and that that might be inconvenient for me, so they had found someone who could take the time.”
Tory backbenchers said four other members of the committee were in the same position: Adam Afriyie, Nick Fletcher, Danny Kruger and Marco Longhi. Several of them attended the committee hearing later in the evening to register their protests.
Mark Francois, one of several Tory MPs who turned up to an unusually packed committee hearing in support of his displaced colleagues, told MPs the process was “blatantly and obviously rigged”.
Speaking directly to Victoria Atkins, the minister in charge of the policy, Francois said: “Everyone can see this has become a farce. Accept this is gone wrong. It was a mistake.”
His criticisms were echoed by other hardline Brexiters, including Bill Cash and Jacob Rees-Mogg. Cash said: “It’s an extraordinary situation. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Rees-Mogg accused the government of “playing hokey cokey” with the legislation.
Atkins defended the law change, saying only a “minimal” number of packages sent between Great Britain and Northern Ireland would end up being subject to checks. The government did not respond to a request to defend its handling of the committee process.
Despite the protests, both the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, and the chair of the legislative committee, the Conservative MP Mark Pritchard, said the government whips had the right to replace members up to 10 minutes before the hearing.
A government spokesperson said: “The Windsor framework restores the smooth flow of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and protects Northern Ireland’s place in our union.
“Under the Windsor framework, parcels from Great Britain can be sent to friends, family and consumers in Northern Ireland without any customs declarations.”
