"Surprising" if any indicative votes on Brexit are not free votes- UK junior minister

It would be suprising if Conservative lawmakers were not allowed to vote according to their personal views rather than along party lines if parliament holds a series of votes on alternative ways forward on Brexit, a junor Brexit minister said on Friday. The government has promised that if Prime Minister Theresa May's deal is rejected for a third time it will give parliament a say on the way forward. Normally lawmakers are ordered which way to vote by their party, rather than given a "free vote".

"Obviously if the House is being asked to find a way forward it would be surprising if those votes were not free votes," Kwasi Kwarteng told parliament. "That ultimate decision is a matter for the business managers and will be taken as, and when, the debate takes place."

(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Andrew MacAskill, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)

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