Section:GDN 1N PaGe:10 Edition Date:190808 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 7/8/2019 20:55 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Thursday 8 August 2019
(^10) National
xSubjectxxxx
National
Politics
McDonnell rules
out deals if Tories
lose majority in
the Commons
Severin Carrell and Jessica Elgot
John McDonnell yesterday confi rmed
that Labour would reject a possible
government of national unity and
push for Jeremy Corbyn to form a gov-
ernment or for a general election.
In a move that appeared to stymie
plans being prepared by Tory rebels ,
McDonnell told an audience at an
Edinburgh festival fringe event that it
would be unsustainable for Boris John-
son to remain as prime minister if he
no longer had a Commons majority.
The shadow chancellor said that if
the Conservative leader failed to quit
he would not “ want to drag the Queen
into this but [he] would be sending Jer-
emy Corbyn in a cab to Buckingham
Palace to say ‘we’re taking over’”.
McDonnell said he expected Labour
to win that confi dence vote, and said
Labour would try to force Johnson
out by attempting to form a caretaker
government with the support of other
opposition parties and rebel Tory MPs.
Ruling out any deals with the Lib-
eral Democrats or the Scottish National
party, McDonnell said the only guaran-
tee to other opposition parties would
be to block a no-deal Brexit and organ-
ise a fresh EU referendum.
“Again that no means no coalitions
or pacts, we just put it there [and] I
think people of goodwill who are
concerned about the interests of this
country, about avoiding a no-deal
Brexit, will vote for it,” he said.
McDonnell also rejected claims
over the weekend by Johnson’s sen-
ior adviser, Dominic Cummings , that
it was in the prime minister’s gift to
decide whether and when to hold a
general election. Johnson’s allies have
suggested he would delay that election
until after he had forced through a no-
deal Brexit on 31 October.
“We then have two weeks in which
the existing prime minister or anybody
else can determine whether they can
secure a majority in parliament for a
government,” McDonnell said.
“That’s when we’ll be saying Labour
can form a majority government and
we expect others to come behind us
to do that, so it becomes a caretaker
government. And part of that will be
to say : yes, we will block a no deal and
go back to the country in a referendum.
“So that’s the choice other parties and
other MPs will have. Will they support
Labour going into government under
Jeremy Corbyn to prevent a no deal? ”
If Johnson refused to quit and
Labour was unable to form a caretaker
government, there could be a second
no-confi dence motion 14 days after
the fi rst, where Labour would try to
force a general election, McDonnell
added.
Several Labour MPs have made
clear they would be prepared to join
cross-party eff orts to stop a no-deal
Brexit. “The damage caused by this
reckless hard Brexit will be felt for gen-
erations, it goes beyond party politics,”
the Cardiff North MP, Anna McMorrin ,
tweeted. “I will work with any MP from
any party to stop no deal, bring about a
public vote and campaign for remain.”
McDonnell deepened the row with
Scottish Labour yesterday by claiming
Corbyn backs the decision to rewrite
Labour’s stance on a second inde-
pendence referendum. He provoked a
furious row after revealing on Tuesday
evening he believed a future Labour
government should allow Holyrood
to stage a fresh independence vote –
directly contradicting party policy.
He had failed to warn Richard Leon-
ard, the Scottish Labour leader, who
issued a statement after the two men
met yesterday morning implying
he strongly disagreed with McDon-
nell’s new stance. Leonard, who won
the leadership on a Corbynite ticket,
said: “I made clear to him that a sec-
ond independence referendum is
unwanted by the people of Scotland
and it is unnecessary.
“The 2014 referendum was a once-
in-a-generation vote. There is no
economic case for independence,
especially with the SNP’s new posi-
tion of ditching the pound and new
policy of turbo-charged austerity to
bear down on the defi cit.”
More than a dozen Scottish MPs
and Labour candidates said publicly
that McDonnell was wrong, with 12
candidates issuing a joint statement
declaring: “As the Tories threaten our
place in Europe, we do not believe
the answer to nationalism is more
nationalism.”
McDonnell refused to back down.
He told another Edinburgh festival
fringe event several hours after meet-
ing Leonard that it would be politically
and electorally damaging for Labour to
block a referendum if it was demanded
by Scottish voters or Holyrood.
A YouGov poll showed nearly 40%
of Labour voters in Scotland, exclud-
ing don’t knows, would vote yes to
independence. I t also said 48% of Scot-
tish Labour voters were unsure Corbyn
would be the best prime minister.
What the experts say
Could the Queen intervene to
dismiss Boris Johnson if he
loses a vote of no confi dence?
As the Queen’s powers have been
cited in the no-deal Brexit debate,
constitutional experts are divided
on whether she could intervene to
dismiss Boris Johnson and invite
a new prime minister to form a
government, should he lose a vote
of no confi dence, and schedule an
election for after the Hallowe’en
exit date.
‘He could be dismissed’
Robert Hazell, professor of
government and constitution at
University College London, said:
“Short answer: The Queen could
dismiss Boris Johnson if he lost a
vote of no confi dence and refused
to resign.
“But she would only do so if
the House of Commons indicated
clearly whom should be appointed
as prime minister in his place”.
Under the Fixed-term
Parliaments Act 2011 there is a
14-day window after a vote of no
confi dence in which to fi nd an
alternative government capable
of securing the confi dence of the
Commons. Any election would
be held 25 working days after the
dissolution of parliament.
In those 14 days, parliament could
try to agree on a candidate to put
forward to the Queen. “Then the
Queen would be able, and would
feel able, to dismiss Johnson if he
was not willing himself to resign,
and to appoint that new person as
prime minister.
“But if the House does pass such
a resolution, then I fully expect
Johnson would off er his resignation
and advise the Queen to appoint
the new person as prime minister.
Because he would know that if he
didn’t do that, if he didn’t do the
right thing, he would be dismissed
[by the Queen] .”
‘It is for parliament to act’
Vernon Bogdanor, professor of
government at King’s College
London, said he could see no
circumstances in which it was likely
the Queen would dismiss Johnson.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act
also states dissolution need not
follow immediately after closure
▲ ‘I’d send Corbyn to the Queen to
say we’re taking over,’ said McDonnell
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