Theresa May dealt EU blow as passionate Remain supporter and Labour MP Hilary Benn is elected as chair of Brexit committee
The committee chairman has the power to wreak havoc with the government’s plans
PRO-EU MPs have delivered another blow to Theresa May by electing a passionate Remain supporter to chair the Commons’ new Brexit committee.
Former Labour shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn beat a prominent Leave campaigner to the powerful job last night.
In a vote of all members, Mr Benn saw off fellow Labour MP Kate Hoey by 330 to 209.
It deepens the Commons’ Brexit stand-off with Mrs May as the committee chairman has the power to wreak havoc with the government’s plans.
In another blow for Mrs May, her old Home Office foe Yvette Cooper was also elected as chair of the equally powerful Home Affairs committee.
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Ms Cooper served opposite Mrs May as her shadow for five years when she was Home Secretary.
She defeated fellow former Labour leadership hopeful Chuka Umunna, pushing him into a humiliating third place.
Saying he was “honoured” with his new job, Mr Benn said last night: “How we negotiate our withdrawal from the EU and build a new relationship with Europe is the biggest challenge we will face in this Parliament”.
A report by the House of Lords’ EU Committee today issues a fresh demand for Parliament to be allowed to “scrutinise negotiations on Brexit as they happen”.
The peers argue that it is “in the interests of Government, Parliament and the public” for them and MPs to get a vote on the Article 50 departure process before it is triggered.