Cameron warned over devastating Commons defeat as Brexit MPs plot to derail Queen's Speech

David Cameron could be staring at a devastating defeat on the Queen's Speech

More than 25 Conservative MPs have threatened to deliver a devastating challenge to the Prime Minister’s authority by siding against him when the House of Commons votes on the proposed Government agenda for the next 12 months.

Their anger has been sparked after yesterday’s Queen’s Speech outlining ministers’ plans, delivered by Her Majesty at the State Opening of Parliament, failed to offer explicit protection for the NHS from the pending TTIP free trade deal between the EU and US.

In a sign of the increasingly bitter splits within the Tory party over the EU referendum, the group of potential rebel MPs have sent a warning to Mr Cameron he could be the first Prime Minister to lose a vote on a Queen’s Speech for 92 years.
The last time a Government was defeated on a Queen’s Speech vote, which is usually passed as a formality, was in 1924 and led to the resignation of then-prime minister Stanley Baldwin.

The Tory rebels, made up of eurosceptic MPs, have tabled an amendment to yesterday’s Queen’s Speech that would require the Commons to “respectfully regret that a Bill to protect the National Health Service from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was not included in the Gracious Speech”.
The amendment has also been signed by Labour MPs and the SNP’s Chris Stephens.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn today confirmed his MPs would be backing the amendment when the Commons votes on the Queen's Speech.
It means, with the support of Tory eurosceptics, the Prime Minister would see his Commons majority vanish.

In order to get themselves out of the mess - and avoid a defeat that would no doubt trigger a vote of no confidence in Mr Cameron - Downing Street today confirmed they would “consider” the amendment.
Opening up the possibility of the Government accepting the rebels’ amendment, a spokesman said: “We will have to wait and see the content of the amendment. We will have to consider it.”
But Downing Street also insisted the NHS is already protected from the TTIP deal currently being negotiated between Brussels and America.

Critics have previously suggested the NHS could be open to privatisation under the terms of the agreement being discussed by EU and US trade officials.
The spokesman added: “Generally we would say the health service is completely protected under this agreement.

"That has been made very clear by the European Commissioner for Trade who said member states did not have to open public health services to competition from private providers nor do they have to outsource services to private providers.
"The US negotiator has also agreed with that position and said it will not require governments to privatise any service.”

He also referred to the Prime Minister’s previous description of the threat of TTIP leading to a privatised NHS being the ‘reddest of red herrings’.

On May 4, Mr Cameron told the Commons: “This is the reddest of red herrings, I have to say. The health service is completely protected under this agreement”.