Daily Mail - 17.08.2019

Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019 Page 15

QQQ

EN: I’LL BE PM

I wouldn’t reject it... a

government of national

unity might be called for.

We’re in a similar situation

to the two world wars

‘

’

I’m the man for the job, says Corbyn

WHAT ARE THE REBELS

PLANNING?

MPs opposed to a No Deal Brexit

want to stop Boris Johnson going

through with his pledge to take the

country out of the EU on October 31,

come what may. One option they are

considering is trying to pass a law

that forces the Prime Minister to

instead seek another delay. But

rebels believe their ultimate weapon

would be to bring down Mr Johnson’s

Government through a no-

confidence vote in the Commons.

WHEN WOULD A NO

CONFIDENCE VOTE BE?

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to table a

vote but has not yet revealed when,

saying that he will wait until he thinks

he has most chance of succeeding.

When MPs return to Westminster on

September 3 following the summer

recess, there will only be 58 days left

until the UK is due to leave the EU – so

time will be of the essence. However,

Mr Corbyn may wait until it is clear

there is no prospect of a late

climbdown by the EU, and that Britain

is heading for a No Deal departure.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

In a no-confidence vote, MPs have

their say on whether they want the

Government to continue. If a majority

do, then Boris Johnson will carry on.

If he loses, the Commons has 14 days

to find an alternative administration.

Rebel MPs want to install a new prime

minister who will stop Brexit

happening on October 31 and seek an

extension to Article 50 – but they

disagree on whether Mr Corbyn

should take over or if there should

be a ‘government of national unity’

led by someone else, such as Harriet

Harman or Ken Clarke.

COULD THE QUEEN GET

INVOLVED?

The law governing this process – the

Fixed-term Parliaments Act – was

only passed in 2011, so the country

would be in unchartered waters. If a

majority of MPs supported a new

government, Mr Johnson would be

expected to go the Queen, tender his

resignation and advise her on who

she should appoint as his successor.

But it has been suggested that he

could refuse to step down. This would

drag the Queen into the row because,

as a last resort, she can dismiss him.

WILL THERE BE

AN ELECTION?

If a new government is not formed

during the 14-day period there will

be a general election. There must be

five weeks’ notice before a vote, but

the Prime Minister would set the

exact date. If Mr Johnson loses a no-

confidence vote, it has been

suggested that an election could be

scheduled for after October 31 –

meaning Brexit goes ahead anyway.

Some constitutional experts say that

if Brexit happens during an election

campaign, a new government might

be able to find a way to reverse it.

Plotting, rebels

and the Queen:

What IS next?

By Larisa Brown

Political Correspondent

Europhile:

Ken Clarke

says a unity

government

could ‘sort

out’ Brexit

By John

Stevens

DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

JEREMY Corbyn savaged Lib Dem

leader Jo Swinson yesterday after she

rejected his plan to lead an emergency

government to block a No Deal Brexit.

Miss Swinson had claimed he was not the

right politician for the job, saying Tory gran-

dee Ken Clarke and senior Labour MP Har-

riet Harman would be a better fit.

But Mr Corbyn hit back, saying: ‘It’s not

up to Jo Swinson to choose candidates, it’s

not up to Jo Swinson to decide who the next

Prime Minister is going to be.

‘Surely she must recognise she is a leader

of one of the opposition parties who are

apparently opposed to this Government,

and apparently prepared to support a

motion of no confidence.

‘I look forward to joining her in the lobbies

to vote this Government down.’ On Friday

Miss Swinson said she had spoken to Mr

Clarke and Miss Harman and had won their

assurances they were ready to ‘put public

duty first’ to ‘stop us driving off that cliff ’.

Mr Clarke then said publicly he would be up

for leading a government of national unity.

She told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘They

put public duty first... if the House of Com-

mons asks them to lead an emergency gov-

ernment to get our country out of this Brexit

mess and to stop us driving off that cliff to a

No Deal, then yes, they are prepared to do

that and I think that is to their credit.’

Asked by the BBC if he would back Miss

Harman or Mr Clarke, Mr Corbyn said: ‘We

are putting forward the Labour position and

I am the leader of the Labour Party to do

just that.’

The BBC has reported that Mr Corbyn was

‘open to’ using legislation to prevent a No

Deal Brexit if his plan to overthrow the Gov-

ernment in a vote of no confidence fails.

He is understood to have had a discussion

with the SNP on Friday over passing a law

to extend Article 50, which would delay leav-

ing the EU.

With Mr Corbyn’s plan winning the poten-

tial backing of the SNP, and senior Remain-

supporting Tories Dominic Grieve and Sir

Oliver Letwin agreeing to meet the Labour

leader, Miss Swinson was under increasing

pressure to back Mr Corbyn’s plan to force

out Boris Johnson in a vote of no confidence

and securing a Brexit extension.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was among

those applying pressure to Miss Swinson to

rethink her position. And the Labour mayor

of London, Sadiq Khan, wrote to Miss Swin-

son to urge her to reconsider Mr Corbyn’s

offer. In the letter, seen by The Guardian, he

said: ‘The Liberal Democrats’ continued

insistence Jeremy Corbyn could not lead this

potential unity government is now the single

biggest obstacle to stopping No Deal.’

nJeremy Corbyn is not strong enough to

handle a crisis as Prime Minister, according

to a poll. Nearly half think he is indecisive,

the Deltapoll survey for the Evening Stand-

ard found, while just 28 per cent said he has

the ‘character to handle a crisis’.