- The Observer
News 11.08.19 7
Sadiq
KhanW
hen he became
prime min-
ister, Boris
Johnson had
a huge oppor-
tunity, and
responsibility, to reunite our divided
country. As the fi gurehead of the
Leave campaign in the Brexit refer-
endum, he was uniquely positioned
to reach out to the 48 % of us who
voted to remain in the European
Union and who have been ignored
by the government ever since.
Johnson could have persuaded
the most extreme Brexite rs in
his party that they should com-
promise with those who voted to
remain. There are many young,
urban and ethnic minority commu-
nities across Britain who are ter-
rifi ed about the future. Johnson
could have chosen to use his posi-
tion as the new prime minister to
heal the divisions that have gripped
us rather than widen them.
But the prime minister has chosen
a far more dangerous path. He has
made it clear that he intends to pur-
sue a no-deal Brexit on 31 October ,
which would be catastrophic. He is
refusing to meet EU leaders even
to discuss doing a deal. Rather than
straddling the divide in Britain, he
has chosen to lead one side into bat-tle against the other – and he will
take no prisoners in the process.
The speed at which a no-deal
Brexit has moved from being
unthinkable to extremely likely
means that we must keep repeat-
ing that this would be a catastrophic
outcome for Britain’s future. No
leading fi gures on the leave side in
the referendum campaign suggested
such an extreme version of Brexit. It
would make us poorer, now and for
years to come. It would cause short-
term and long-term disruption
across the country. It could jeop-
ardise the fragile Northern Ireland
peace process. It would make us all
less safe and secure, and diminish
the way our country is seen around
the world. And you don’t have to
take my word for it – these points
have been made by a wide range
of people from the governor of the
Bank of England to the most senior
police offi cers.
The urgent question now facing
people like me, who believe that a
no-deal Brexit must be stopped at
all costs, is what we can do to pre-
vent this government from driv-
ing us over the no-deal cliff edge.
T he odds are stacked against us, but
we are not without hope – the Tory
majority has been reduced to just
one, and increasing numbers of Tory
MPs share our horror at just how
extreme Johnson’s administration is
turning out to be.
But there is no time for parlia-
mentary poker. You’re either com-
mitted to stopping no deal – the
default outcome – or you’re not. We
can’t trust the Johnson governmentIt’s no time to play
parliamentary poker.
Let the people decide
not to play fast and loose with our
future, so MPs must take decisive
action to take power out of the gov-
ernment’s hands and give it back to
the British people in the form of an
election or people’s vote before any
irreversible decisions are taken.
The fi rst step must be an imme-
diate vote of no confi dence in
Johnson’s government as soon as
parliament returns in September- which I urge London MPs from
all parties to back, in the interests
of our city and our nation. We can’t
afford any delay – which would risk
the issue being taken out of parlia-
ment’s hands.
I will give my full support to any
efforts required to stop an undem-
ocratic no deal – whether they be
a general election, taking control
of the parliamentary order paper,
or even a temporary government
of national unity, if, as many con-
stitutional experts are now saying,
this is the only way to stop Johnson
and his catastrophic no-deal Brexit
for sure. The starting point for any
conversations about an alterna-
tive government that can command
the confi dence of parliament must
be that it would be led by Jeremy
Corbyn as the leader of the oppo-
sition and by far the biggest party
opposed to no deal.
This is not about party politics –
it’s far bigger than that. It’s about
our expectation that the British gov-
ernment will serve our national
interest and observe our most cher-
ished democratic traditions. Britain
is an open, liberal and outward-
looking democracy – and we must
keep it that way. That’s why I will
support doing whatever it takes
under the law over the weeks ahead
to stop Boris Johnson from crashing
Britain out of the EU without a deal,
and to stop him infl icting the views
of the most extreme elements of his
party on the British people.
Sadiq Khan is mayor of LondonOther legal teams are
drawing up a case designed
to prevent Johnson from
refusing to resign should he
face a no-confi dence vote – and
also limit his powers to circum-
vent parliament more generally.
They believe that the sabre-rattling
from No 10 could help them, as it may
help prove a willingness by the exec-
utive to exclude parliament.Hold fi re...
There is already frustration that all
the talk of constitutional tweaks and
breaches of convention is exactly
what Johnson and Cummings want- the spectacle of Remain MPs using
obscure devices to prevent Britain
leaving the EU. They argue that it is
the perfect context for Downing St to
wage a “people vs parliament” elec-
tion campaign that unites Leave vot-
ers under the Conservative banner,
giving a majority to Johnson. They are
proposing an alternative approach:
allow some of the real effects of a no-
deal Brexit to become clearer, and
concentrate on the fact that such an
outcome is profoundly undemocratic.
The People’s Vote campaign for a
second referendum ha s similar con-
cerns. “Cummings wants to pretend
anyone against the imposition of no-
deal is somehow undemocratic by
focusing on arcane procedures and
parliamentary instruments,” said a
senior campaign source. “We will be
using the next few days to re assert
fundamental democratic principles
about why Johnson cannot force no-
deal on the British people when he
himself ruled it out in 2016.”
Boris Johnson
Th reats to ignore a
no-confi dence vote and
hold an election day
after Brexit have been
mooted by the PM’s
allies as ways of forcing
through a no-deal
Brexit.Dominic Grieve
Th e former attorney
general, who has
become a fi gurehead for
anti-no deal MPs, has
suggested he will try
various devices to block
it - including bringing
down the government.ON OTHER PAGESGordon Brown: the UK is being torn
apart by toxic nationalism
Comment, page 41Will Hutton: We are seeing the
dying days of the rancid old order
Comment, page 46William Keegan: Brexit was
becoming a farce. Now it’s a coup
Business, page 55Commentary
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