Crash fears for no-deal advice website
By Christopher Hope Chief
PolitiCal CorresPondentMINISTERS are worried that
the Government’s no deal
public information website
could crash under the
weight of people seeking
post-Brexit information.
Efforts by civil servants to
bolster the technology un-
derlying the website – http://www.
gov.uk – have meant that a£130 million public informa-
tion campaign to prepare the
public for Brexit has been
delayed.
Boris Johnson, the Prime
Minister, is being urged to
bring forward the campaign
to counter concerns about
no deal raised in the Opera-
tion Yellowhammer leak at
the weekend.
The new campaign, which
will run across newspapers,billboards, radio and the in-
ternet, will launch within the
next two weeks. It will be the
biggest public information
campaign since the end of
the Second World War.
The adverts will direct
members of the public to the
gov.uk website where they
can find out more informa-
tion on issues such as apply-
ing for passports and
whether they can drive onthe Continent. However the
expected interest in the site- which has until now only
been home to obscure gov-
ernment announcements
and reports – has meant that
officials have been in a race
against time to ensure that
the site does not crash when
it launches.
One Government source
said: “Part of the delay in get-
ting the campaign off the
ground is because we have
to spend quite a lot of money
preparing gov.uk for mas-
sive number of visits. Some-
times when the Government
launches something the
website crashes – that can’t
happen in this instance.”
Discussions about the
campaign are advanced,
with talks taking place with
an advertising agency and
media buyers.Now, that’s a leak...
Michael Gove, the
Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster
and head of no-deal
Brexit strategy, leaves
his home in London
with papers dangling
precariously from his
ministerial case.
Luckily he spotted
the faux pas just in
time and the open
case quickly became
a shut one. It came as
Tory HQ began to
hire local campaign
managers, hinting
that a snap election
may – like the
government papers- be in the air.
90,000 pupils
start school at
risk of measles
Readers rise to
Brexit poem
challenge
By Laura Donnelly
health editorUP TO a quarter of young
children are not vaccinated
against measles in some
parts of the country, leaving
90,000 pupils unprotected
as they start school, health
chiefs have warned.
One in seven five-year-
olds have not had both MMR
(measles, mumps and ru-
bella) inoculations and this
number rises to one in four
in London, figures show.
Parents are being urged to
book jabs before the autumn
term as Public Health Eng-
land fears the disease will
spread following holidays
abroad.
Monthly figures show that
across Europe, France has
the highest number of cases
followed by Bulgaria, Italy
and Poland.
Yesterday Boris Johnson,
the Prime Minister, urged
parents not to be taken in by
online “mumbo jumbo”
about the dangers of the jab.By Christopher HopeAFTER Simon Armitage, the
Poet Laureate, refused to
pen a poem to mark Brexit,
Daily Telegraph readers
stepped in, sending us their
verses by the dozen.
After we invited submis-
sions from amateur poets,
readers did not disappoint.
Kerry Costello wrote:
“Our Laureate poet de-
clined/ To write a few words,
he opined/ That leaving was
bad, he’s obviously mad/
When we go we should leave
him behind.”
Sandy O’Mahan penned:
“The EU’s a sham,/ We don’t
give a damn,/ We don’t give
a hoot,/ Give them Ag-
incourt salute.”
Readers should keep
sending them in. The best
will be performed by Jacob
Rees-Mogg in a special read-
ing for this week’s Chopper’s
Brexit Podcast, available on
iTunes and at https://chop-
persbrexitpodcast.tele-
graph.co.uk/ on Friday.Help make me PM, Corbyn tells Tory rebels
By Owen Bennett
and Christopher HopeJEREMY CORBYN appealed yesterday
to Conservative “no-deal” rebels to
help him bring down Boris Johnson.
Pledging to push forward with a voteof no confidence in the Government,
the Labour leader challenged the rebel
Tories who could vote to stop a no-deal
Brexit to help install him as Prime Min-
ister for a limited period to prevent the
UK leaving the European Union with-
out a deal.
The rebel group has been revealed
by The Daily Telegraph to contain as
many as 40 disgruntled MPs.
Mr Corbyn promised to call a general
election after stopping a no-deal Brexit,
a deal he initially offered to opposition
parties last week. That proposal hasfallen flat, with Jo Swinson, the Lib
Dem leader, warning that Mr Corbyn
does not command enough support for
a Commons majority.
After Mr Corbyn gave his speech in
Corby, Northants, some of his support-
ers heckled journalists who asked if he
would step aside to allow someone else
to oversee a temporary administration.
A woman was cheered as she called
out: “He is our leader, not the Press or
Boris Johnson or Jo Swanson (sic).”
Mr Corbyn replied: “All the constitu-
tional precedents are, when a govern-ment collapses, it’s the leader of the
Opposition that takes over. There
seems to be a lot of very imaginative
‘what-iffery’ in the press.”
Ms Swinson wrote on Twitter: “MPs
from several parties have said they will
not support Jeremy Corbyn as PM. If he
is unwilling to get behind another can-
didate, he risks delivering the no-deal
Brexit he claims he wants to stop.”
Turning his focus to Tory MPs op-
posed to the plan to leave the EU on Oct
31 with or without an agreement, Mr
Corbyn said: “If MPs are serious aboutstopping a no-deal crash-out, they will
vote down this reckless Government.”
He added: “We will work together
with the MPs from across Parliament to
pull our country back from the brink. I
will bring a vote of no confidence ...
and if successful, I would seek to form
a time-limited caretaker administra-
tion to avert no deal, and call an imme-
diate general election so the people can
decide our country’s future.”
Mr Corbyn also called for Parliament
to be recalled to allow MPs to debate
Brexit, saying: “Do we support the re-call of Parliament? Yes indeed, I have
made that very clear.” No 10 has insisted
Parliament will not be recalled.
Downing Street is at odds with the
Tory rebels, led by Philip Hammond,
the former chancellor, over a leak of a
document setting out the Govern-
ment’s no-deal planning.
A No 10 source accused the group of
leaking the details to undermine Mr
Johnson’s talks this week with Angela
Merkel and Emmanuel Macron.Editorial Comment: Page 15Corbynistas can
think of no one
better to lead
I
t would probably be possible for
MPs to avert a no-deal Brexit – if
only it weren’t for two types of
people. One: Remainers who would
rather have a no-deal Brexit than make
Jeremy Corbyn prime minister. Two:
Remainers who would rather have a
no-deal Brexit than make anyone
except Jeremy Corbyn prime minister.
Both groups appear to be strong in
number. Especially the second.
Yesterday, Mr Corbyn pledged to do
“everything necessary” to prevent a
no-deal Brexit. Journalists attempted
to put that to the test. If he failed to
form a caretaker government, asked
Andy Bell of 5 News, would he help
another no-deal opponent form one?
“NOOOOOOOO!” bellowed Mr
Corbyn’s supporters. “NOOOOOOOO!”
They were apoplectic. It was a
scandal. It was an outrage.
Mr Corbyn chuckled indulgently.
“Let Andy ask his question,” he said.
At last the uproar died down
sufficiently for Mr Bell to finish asking
his question. So he did. The response,
however, was no more favourable.
“What a DISGRACE!” shouted one
woman. Another started ranting about
the press, the Prime Minister, and
someone called “Jo Swanson”.
Another journalist raised a hand.
“It’s clear,” they began, “that you
don’t have the cross-party support to
be caretaker prime minister. Would...”
The rest of the question was
submerged by a tsunami of howls,
jeers and cries of “SHAME ON YOU!”
A journalist suggested that even
some Labour MPs didn’t want him as
caretaker PM. Cue more indignation
about anti-Corbyn media bias.
Mr Corbyn remained calm. If the
Government were to fall in a vote of
confidence, he repeated, then he
should be caretaker prime minister.
Such is his supporters’ paranoia, it was
probably the only thing he could say.
If he’d said he’d support another
candidate, they’d have accused Mr
Corbyn of anti-Corbyn bias, too.
“NOOOOOOOO!”
“Shame on you, Jeremy! Respect
your mandate! Stop undermining
Jeremy, Jeremy!”
“Jeremy, if you aren’t prepared to
get behind Jeremy, then make way for
someone who is!”Bedside mannerisms Boris Johnson meets Scarlett Gibbons, 5, during a visit to the paediatric unit of the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. While there, the
Prime Minister repeated his plea to parents not to listen to the anti-vax “mumbo-jumbo” on the internet and to ensure all children were given the MMR jab.PETER NICHOLLS / WPA POOL / GETTY IMAGESLabour leader shifts focus
to Conservative opponentsof no deal in his efforts to
bring down Boris JohnsonSketch
By Michael DeaconHENRY NICHOLLS / REUTERSNews
4 ***^ Tuesday 20 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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