Tory MPs are demanding Theresa May publish her Brexit plans to Parliament immediately, after the Prime Minister was forced into a humiliating U-turn on the issue.
Conservatives said Ms May’s climbdown in finally agreeing to publish a White Paper on her withdrawal plans would be meaningless unless she did so quickly, before Parliament votes on officially triggering Brexit talks.
One Conservative MP said the suggestion that they approve triggering Article 50 without first seeing the plans cemented into a White Paper was like “jumping off a building into the dark”.
It came as the European Parliament announced it would investigate the Government’s treatment of EU nationals living in the UK who have applied for citizenship or permanent residency since the Brexit referendum.
Ms May is set to publish an Article 50 Bill on Thursday and could require MPs to vote on its early stages at some point next week.
The Prime Minister’s previous refusal to publish any withdrawal strategy beyond what she said in her key Brexit speech last week angered MPs who believe they cannot hold her to the plans unless she lays them out in an official document.
After a group of around a dozen Tories began pushing for the White Paper, with one promising “tension and bad blood” if she refused, Ms May finally agreed.
She said on Wednesday: “I have been clear, as have senior ministers, that we will ensure that Parliament has every opportunity to provide that scrutiny on this issue as we go through this process.
“I set out that bold plan for a global Britain last week and I recognise there is an appetite in this House to see that plan set out in a White Paper.”