The Daily Telegraph Friday 16 August 2019 *** 9
A
t long last, politicians have begun
to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.
The most important part of these
preparations, of course, is deciding
who to blame when it happens.
The plan appears to be as follows.
The Conservatives will blame the EU
for not offering a good enough deal.
Labour will blame the Conservatives
for failing to get a good enough deal.
The Lib Dems will blame Labour for
failing to prevent no deal. Labour will
blame the Lib Dems for refusing to
support Labour’s idea to prevent no
deal. And the Conservatives will blame
both Labour and the Lib Dems forShe’ll work with anybody ... almost
Sketch
By Michael Deaconh
Last night a Number 10 source hit
out at the rebels, warning that they
needed to think “very carefully” about
their next steps. “They will have to ex-
plain to their constituents why it is ap-
propriate”, they added.
Separately, Mr Hammond was facing
a mounting backlash from local mem-
bers yesterday, with a Tory councillor
telling The Daily Telegraph that he was
wrong to undermine Mr Johnson’s ne-
gotiating stance.
“If I’d have been in the PM’s posi-
tion, I would also say there has to be an
exit day, irrespective,” they added. “I
do believe that in a negotiation you’ve
got to have a deadline. To roll this thing
over and over is ridiculous.
“My wife said to me this morning, if
there was a general election she
wouldn’t know who to vote for. We’re
now in that camp.”
A local party insider added: “There
Wollaston accused of
hypocrisy after backing
by-elections for defectors
By Camilla Tominey
ASSOCIATE EDITORSARAH WOLLASTON, the Liberal
Democrat defector, was last night ac-
cused of hypocrisy after it emerged she
had lobbied for MPs who switch parties
to automatically face a by-election.
The former Tory MP, who defected
to Change UK in February before join-
ing the Lib Dems on Wednesday, has
defied calls to go back to the polls in
her Totnes constituency. She claimed
her constituents, of whom only 13 per
cent voted Lib Dem at the 2017 general
election, did not want a Conservative
candidate but a “centrist” MP.
She said: “Many of my constituents
have been rather horrified by the way
the Conservative Party have shifted to
the right. And I was selected originally
by a fully open postal primary, the first
in the country, so I think people do
have a support across my constituency
for that kind of centre ground ap-
proach.”
The Lib Dems were backed by just a
quarter of the numbers of voters who
voted for the Tories in Totnes two years
ago, although the party consistently
finished second to the Conservatives in
the constituency until their vote share
collapsed following the 2010 coalition.
In 2011, Dr Wollaston, a former GP,
supported a bill that proposed that anycolleague who had crossed the floor
“should trigger an automatic by-elec-
tion so that their constituencies can
have the final say on their decision”.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Con-
servative leader, said last night the leg-
islation Dr Wollaston voted for was “to
give people in constituencies the right
to decide if they want someone to con-
tinue to represent them when their cir-
cumstances have changed”.
“If they vote for a Conservative and
then end up with a Lib-Dem that must
require such a vote,” he said. “Dr Wol-
laston must now do so or risk the dam-
aging charge of hypocrisy.”
James Cleverly, Conservative Party
chairman, tweeted: “Part of the Brexitvote was about the frustration millions
of people had with the political system.
The perception MPs were unaccounta-
ble, didn’t stick to their promises, were
hypocrites. Sarah’s actions can only re-
inforce that negativity.”
Explaining her decision to join the
Lib Dems, Dr Wollaston said: “As the
strongest party for Remainers, we will
lead the fight to stop Brexit.”
During a grilling by BBC presenter
Victoria Derbyshire on her show yes-
terday, Dr Wollaston was asked
whether she would describe herself as
principled: “Er, well, I would describe
myself as principled but ...”
Ms Derbyshire interrupted: “So
when are you holding a by-election in
your constituency?” to which Dr Wol-
laston replied: “That should be part of a
general election.”
Last night Dr Wollaston said a tem-
porary Jeremy Corbyn led government
would be “the lesser of two evils” in
order to prevent a no-deal Brexit, but
added she believed it would have no
chance of support from former Tory
colleagues.
She told The Guardian: “Obviously,
as the lesser of two evils, I would have
to make a judgment and probably say:
you know what, I think it would be
worse to have no deal. But you need
five or six Tories to do it, and I’m sorry
but they are just not going to do it.”they don’t agree with his style, but
when they say he’s trying to frustrate
Brexit I don’t agree with that,” they
said.
“Philip Hammond is not Dominic
Grieve. [Mr Grieve’s association] has
much more of a case for being deeply
aggrieved at what their MP has been
doing, because even under Theresa
May he was making it difficult for the
Government to conduct business.
“I don’t think Philip is doing that.”
It came as two Tory rebels, Sir Oliver
and Mr Grieve, joined by Nick Boles,
yesterday wrote to Mr Corbyn to say
they would be “happy to meet” to dis-
cuss the “different ways” Parliament
could prevent no deal.
While they stopped short of backing
the Labour leader’s bid to become a
caretaker prime minister, the pair said
they agreed that “our common priority
should be to work together”.being so anti-Brexit that they made any
kind of deal impossible.
So that’s something to look forward
to. According to leading Remainers,
though, there’s still one way to prevent a
no-deal Brexit: topple Boris Johnson
and install a “government of national
unity”, made up of opposition parties
and a few Tories. There’s just one
problem: governments of national unity
require unity.
This was demonstrated yesterday by
Jo Swinson who, with tremulous
vehemence, promised she would do
“whatever it takes” to prevent a no-deal
Brexit. She was ready to “work with
anyone”. Well, almost anyone.
The night before, Jeremy Corbyn
said he intended to head a government
of national unity. Ms Swinson
emphatically rejected him as too
“divisive”: he wasn’t popular with MPs
from any party and, over the past three
years, he had repeatedly “let theGovernment off the hook on Brexit”.
Of course, Ms Swinson may be right.
But it did feel a tiny bit odd, hearing her
declare that she would do “whatever it
takes”, before setting out, with equal
firmness, what she wouldn’t do. She
was telling other MPs to put aside their
differences while refusing to put aside
her own. It was a classic example of the
old rule that when politicians talk about
the importance of compromise, they
mean compromise by everyone else.
When asked which “would be worse- a Corbyn-led government or a no-deal
Brexit?”, Ms Swinson dodged the
question. She said “the country
deserves better” than either. To be fair,
she’s in a difficult position. Making Mr
Corbyn PM might well cost the Lib
Dems votes at an election. So you can
see why she is pleading with other
parties to “forget their narrow party
interest”. Because otherwise, her own
party might have to forget theirs.
are people in the association ... in the
executive committee, who are not best
pleased with some of the things that
Philip has said.”
Echoing their comments, a second
source said: “There is a reasonably
sized group who believe in hard Brexit
and are not too chuffed with the route
Philip has chosen.
“I have no doubt they will be ex-
pressing those opinions during the
course of September.”
Under party rules, anyone attempt-
ing to subject Mr Hammond to a cen-
sure motion would need to secure the
signatures of 50 association members
before a motion can be considered.
However, an ally of Mr Hammond in-
sisted that those framing him as an
“arch-Remainer” were misguided, add-
ing that he continued to enjoy the sup-
port of many Tory members.
“I can understand people sayingDame Caroline Spelman
Environment secretary under CameronSir Oliver Letwin
Former chancellor of the Duchy of LancasterDr Sarah Wollaston left the Tory Party in
February and has now joined the Lib DemsРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS