Theresa May will come under intense pressure this week to publish a government plan for Brexit before triggering article 50, as at least 20 Conservative MPs could back a Labour motion on the issue.
The prime minister faces losing a vote on a motion being put down by Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, which claims it is right for parliament to scrutinise the process while also respecting the decision of the British people to leave the EU.
Labour says it does not want information to be disclosed that could damage the government’s negotiations, but calls on the prime minister to “commit to publishing the government’s plan for leaving the EU before article 50 is invoked”.
Senior figures in the Labour party have insisted they are not playing “parliamentary games”. They have expressed frustration that the government’s “no running commentary” mantra has meant the public has had to rely on snippets of information from leaks to journalists, photographed meeting notes and gaffes by the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson.
The Conservative backbencher Anna Soubry told the Guardian she agreed with the motion and she and many colleagues were likely to back it if the government did not come up with a suitable alternative. “I can’t see on what grounds I wouldn’t vote for it. I would expect at least 20 of my colleagues to vote for it,” she said.
Soubry said she hoped Downing Street would back down on the issue, like it did in October when it became clear that May might lose a vote on a Labour amendment that demanded “full and transparent” scrutiny of the Brexit strategy through parliamentary debate.
This motion goes further as it demands a written plan, which would set out the direction of travel for the government on migration controls and economic access.
“People are very concerned. We are getting a running commentary – we need clarity,” said Soubry. She said she was calling for a white paper to be published “that clearly sets out where the government is going”.
Other Conservative MPs said they agreed with the Labour motion but were hoping, like Soubry, that the government might put forward its own amendment that they could back.
Soubry said this could reunite the different factions calling for various shades of Brexit.
Labour will close Wednesday’s debate with Jenny Chapman, the shadow minister on Brexit, who said the frustration was that MPs had been asking the government for its starting point and negotiating strategy for months.
“The only response we’ve had is in the shape of leaked letters, glimpses of notes from meetings, and throwaway comments from the foreign secretary. The Labour party alongside the rest of the country want a clearer idea of where the government intends to take the country through Brexit,” she said.
Chapman said a series of meetings with businesses, community groups and other interested parties made clear there was a desire for information.
She said the motion was not calling for the finer details but was intended simply to “encourage the government to give us more information – it has deliberately been worded in a collegiate way.”
