Daily Mail - 12.08.2019

Page ^ Daily Mail, Monday, August 12, 2019

THE Queen will not help sort out the Brexit
‘mess’, experts said yesterday, after it was
reported she is dismayed at politicians.

Comments attributed to Her Majesty
from 2016 surfaced, with royal sources
saying her frustration has grown since.

One said: ‘I think she’s really dismayed.
I’ve heard her talking about her disap-
pointment in the current political class

and its inability to govern correctly.’
The monarch, 93, has remained impar-

tial, although it was reported three years
ago that she was in favour of leaving the
EU. The source said: ‘She expressed her

exasperation and frustration about the

quality of our political leadership, and

that frustration will only have grown.’

Her Majesty’s comments were appar-

ently made at a private event shortly

after David Cameron’s resignation follow-

ing the Brexit referendum.

Political historian and author Sir Anthony

Seldon said the monarch avoids getting

involved in politics – especially Brexit – so

as ‘not to alienate some of the nation’.

‘The Queen has survived throughout her

reign – the longest monarch in British his-

tory – by not getting drawn into politics.’

By Daniel Martin
Policy Editor

A GREEN Party MP last

night called for the forma-

tion of an emergency
all-female Cabinet to block

a No Deal Brexit.
Caroline Lucas, the party’s
former leader, urged ten high-
profile women politicians from
all the main parties to come
together in a Cabinet of
national unity.
She suggested it could include
Labour’s Emily Thornberry, Lib-
eral Democrat leader Jo Swinson,
and the former Conservative Cabi-
net minister Justine Greening.
In an open letter to the politi-
cians, Miss Lucas said women
could be better than men at deal-
ing with Brexit because ‘they can
bring a different perspective to
crises, are able to reach out to
those they disagree with and co-
operate to find solutions’.
But her letter emerged as a
think-tank warned that MPs may
have missed their chance to stop

foreign secretary, appears unlikely

to back such a move.

Miss Lucas has approached

Yvette Cooper, one of the leading

Labour figures coordinating

efforts to stop No Deal and her

letter has also gone to Change UK

leader Anna Soubry, the inde-

pendent MP Heidi Allen, the

SNP’s Kirsty Blackman, the inde-

pendent Northern Irish MP Sylvia

Hermon and Plaid Cymru’s Liz

Saville Roberts.

Miss Lucas is understood to

have begun talks with the women

she has addressed in her letter.

The Commons returns in Sep-

tember and many Remain-sup-

porting MPs hope to use parlia-

mentary procedure to prevent Mr

Johnson from leaving the EU with-

out an agreement.

But the Institute for Govern-

ment said last night that they will

have ‘far fewer opportunities’ to

stop a No Deal than they did when

Theresa May was premier.

And the think-tank said that

even if Mr Johnson loses a vote of

confidence, he may still try to

plough on regardless.

With time running out, the IFG

said in a report that although MPs

could express opposition to No

Deal, that alone would not pre-

vent it. And backbenchers had lit-

tle chance to legislate to stop it.

The findings echo the reported

view of Mr Johnson’s top adviser,

Dominic Cummings, who is said

to have told him that opponents

of No Deal had left it too late.

native would be to leave with No

Deal. She said those forming the

new government would commit

to ‘accept the outcome of that

fair, transparent and informed

vote, even if it delivers a result we

do not agree with’, implying the

temporary government would

then dissolve.

But Labour has ruled out back-

ing a replacement government not

led by Jeremy Corbyn, limiting the

chances that the plan could suc-

ceed. Miss Thornberry, the shadow

Deteriorating relationship: Theresa May and Philip Hammond used to be friends

‘We can co-operate

to find solutions’

By Jack Doyle Associate Editor

May to snub

Hammond in

honours list

THERESA MAY is set to snub her chancellor,

Philip Hammond, by leaving him off her res-

ignation honours list, while handing a peer-

age to her chief of staff, Gavin Barwell.

The former prime minister is finalising the

names on her list, which is expected to see

several senior members of her staff ele-

vated to the House of Lords. She is also con-

sidering handing honours to some of her

closest political allies.

As one of her most senior and longest

serving ministers, Mr Hammond – a former

foreign secretary and defence secretary –

would have been eligible for an honour.

But in a sign of how their relationship

soured during her time in office, he is

understood to have missed out entirely.

One friend of the PM said: ‘Nobody can

read Theresa’s mind but I’d be astonished if

she gave Philip anything. He blocked and

frustrated her for three years even at the

very end he was still doing everything he

could to be obstructive.’

By contrast, David Cameron put his chan-

cellor, George Osborne, at the top of his

honours list by making him a Companion of

Honour. That is a rare award for ‘nationally

important service’, which is ranked above a

knighthood and allows the recipient to put

CH after their name, can be held by only 65

people at any one time. Mrs May is expected

to hand a peerage to Mr Barwell – the

former Croydon MP who joined her in No

as her chief of staff after losing his seat in

the catastrophic 2017 election – and at least

one other senior staff member.

But her list is understood to be much

shorter than her predecessor’s, comprising

around 20 names. Mr Cameron handed

gongs to 8 former colleagues and allies

and named 13 new Tory peers. Mrs May and

her chancellor were friends when she

entered No10 in 2016, but their relationship

very quickly deteriorated.

In her early months in office her allies

raged at his gloomy tone which damaged

relations with Eurosceptic Tory MPs.

Critics also accused him of frustrating No

Deal planning by refusing to provide adequate

funding to government departments to get

ready and in her final months in office he was

seen in No10 as a constant thorn in her side.

Boris Johnson pushing through a
No Deal Brexit.
The Prime Minister has said he
is committed to taking Britain out
of the EU by the deadline of Octo-
ber 31, whether or not he can get a
new deal with Brussels.
Miss Lucas offered to broker a
deal with female MPs from all the
main political parties at Westmin-
ster, as well as the SNP’s leader,
Nicola Sturgeon.
She said in her letter that the
first course of action would be to
defeat Mr Johnson in a confidence
vote with the immediate aim of
forming a national unity govern-
ment which would negotiate an
extension to Article 50 in order to
hold a new referendum.
That referendum would give vot-
ers the option to choose between
Remain and ‘the latest govern-
ment plan’.
Miss Lucas said that could
include a revised withdrawal
agreement, should Mr Johnson
have produced one, but accepted
it was ‘more likely’ that the alter-

One is not amused: Queen’s

‘frustration’ with politicians

A REMAIN alliance will cause issues for

Boris Johnson as polls suggest he is failing

to pick up support in key marginal seats.

The Conservatives could lose more than

half the constituencies they need to defend

against the resurgent Liberal Democrats.

A YouGov poll of 1,200 voters in 20 con-

stituencies with small Tory leads, where the

Lib Dems came second in 2017, shows a

14.1 per cent slump for the Conservatives.

It suggests the ‘Boris bounce’ is falling

flat in those seats which helped deliver a

majority for David Cameron in 2015.

The poll, revealing a swing of more than

eight per cent to the Lib Dems since the

2017 election, will act as a warning to Mr

Johnson, who has put his party on an elec-

tion footing. The swing increases further if

he campaigns for a No Deal Brexit. If par-

ties opposed to No Deal were to unite on a

single platform, the Tories would be

defeated in 13 out of the 20 seats.

The survey shows that only 70 per cent of

2017 Conservative voters plan to vote for

the party again and that a third of the lost

votes would go to the Lib Dems.

Others would vote for the Brexit Party,

which remains a serious threat as long as

Brexit is unresolved. Zac Goldsmith would

finish 16 per cent behind the Lib Dems in

Richmond Park and Derek Thomas would

be 15 per cent behind them in St Ives.

Remain alliance ‘would hit

Tories in key marginals’

Green MP’s bright idea to

block No Deal... a ‘unity’

Cabinet without any men!