Section:GDN 1N PaGe:10 Edition Date:190906 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 5/9/2019 21:06 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Friday 6 September 2019
(^10) National
Politics
Lisa O’Carroll and Peter Walker
England’s most senior doctor has
condemned Jacob Rees-Mogg for com-
paring a neurologist who helped draw
up no-deal medical plans to the dis-
graced anti- vaxxer Andrew Wakefi eld ,
calling it “disrespectful”.
The unprecedented criticism from
Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical
offi cer, came after the doctor con-
cerned, David Nicholl, said he would
sue Rees-Mogg if he repeated the com-
ments outside parliament.
Rees-Mogg had told MPs that in
warning about the possible eff ects of
a no-deal Brexit on medical supplies,
Nicholl was being as irresponsible as
Wakefi eld, who was struck off in 2010
after suggesting a link between the
MMR vaccine and autism.
No 10 distanced itself from the
remarks about Nicholl, a consultant
neurologist who drew up a risk reg-
ister of epilepsy and neurology drugs
for the government’s Operation Yel-
lowhammer no-deal plans.
Nicholl said Rees-Mogg, the leader
of the Commons, had abused parlia-
mentary privilege, which stops MPs
being sued for comments in the house.
“I will sue him if he repeats what he
said outside parliament,” Nicholl said.
“This is nothing really to do with Brexit,
this is about bulling up any experts and
bullying of whistleblowers .”
In a letter to Rees-Mogg , Davies
said she felt “compelled to express my
sincere disappointment in the disre-
spectful way you spoke to and about
Dr David Nicholl”. Comparing him
to Wakefi eld “is going too far and is
frankly unacceptable”, she said.
The men fi rst clashed on LBC radio ,
when Nicholl challenged Rees-Mogg to
say how many people he would accept
could die because of a lack of access to
Rees-Mogg
Medical chief
condemns
‘anti-vax’ slur
Corbyn to reject
call for election as
Labour watches
Tories ‘implode’
Heather Stewart and Rajeev Syal
Jeremy Corbyn is poised to reject Boris
Johnson’s demand for a 15 October
election for a second time on Monday,
with Labour fearing it would play into
the prime minister’s hands.
Despite being taunted by Johnson
as a “chlorinated chicken,” afraid of
facing the public, Corbyn is holding
out for an election on Labour’s own
terms – and most likely at a later date.
The government has suggested it
will hold a vote on another motion
under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act
on Monday, a procedure that needs
two-thirds of MPs to back it to pass.
Labour had considered if it could
amend the motion to fi x the election
date, to prevent Johnson changing it in
order to force through a no-deal Brexit
- but has been advised that any amend-
ments would not have legal force.
The Guardian understands no
fi nal decision has been made about
Labour’s tactics next week, but daily
discussions are taking place with other
key opposition fi gures including the
SNP’s Ian Blackford and the Liberal
Democrat leader, Jo Swinson.
One option under fresh considera-
tion is a vote of no confi dence, which
could be tabled next week. If the gov-
ernment lost, it would lead to a 14-day
period during which MPs can try to
put together an alternative majority.
As Corbyn proposed in the summer,
he would then seek to lead a strictly
time-limited government, which
would simply request an extension
from the EU27 to hold a general elec-
tion – and then dissolve itself.
Corbyn told MPs in the Commons
on Wednesday he would be ready to
support Johnson’s call for a n election
once the backbench bill aimed at pre-
venting a no-deal Brexit has passed.
“Let this bill pass and gain royal assent,
and then we will back an election – so
we do not crash out of the European
Union with a no-deal exit,” he said.
But one shadow cabinet minister
close to Corbyn said senior party fi g-
ures had been “agonising” about the
best course of action. Another said
they had been increasingly won over
to the idea of refusing Johnson’s choice
of polling date, as his administration
appears to stumble. “They are implod-
ing – a further delay might help us.”
John McDonnell acknowledged
there were “diff erent views” in Labour
about the timing of a general election.
“The problem ... is that we cannot at
the moment have any confi dence in
Boris Johnson abiding by any commit-
ment or deal that we could construct,”
he told BBC Radio 4’s Today. “That’s
the truth of it. So, we are now consult-
ing about whether it’s better to go long,
therefore, rather than to go short.”
However, the president of the TUC,
a close ally of Corbyn, called for Labour
to support a general election as soon as
legislation halting a no-deal Brexit is
imposed upon the government.
Mark Serwotka also warned Labour
MPs including Tom Watson to fall in
line behind their leader.
Corbyn had faced resistance after
appearing to suggest he would back
a 15 October general election without
further conditions attached.
The MP Wes Streeting said: “Our
No 1 priority is stopping a no-deal
Brexit happening during a general
election campaign through accident
or design. We don’t trust Boris John-
son and nor should anyone else. Once
we are confi dent no deal is safely ruled
out, we will all troop through to vote
for a general election, which is now
necessary, inevitable and desirable.”
Serwotka, due to address the fi rst
day of the TUC’s annual congress in
Brighton on Sunday, said : “My position
is that we want an election, we want
it as soon as possible once a no-deal
Brexit is off the table. We have been
demanding a general election and now
we should get to it as quickly as we
could. I think that having an election
leaving Boris Johnson any opportu-
nity to push through a no-deal Brexit
by default would be ridiculous.
“I think [Johnson’s supporters]
know that people aren’t going to fall
for their trap. It would be outrageous
if we slipped out of the EU while hold-
ing an election .”
Serwotka, the general secretary
of the PCS public service union since
2001, said the current political crisis
should mean that Watson – Labour’s
deputy leader – and others no longer
“indulge” in plots or undermining
tactics against Corbyn. “The actions
of some of the parliamentary Labour
party such as Tom Watson and others
have been really unacceptable. They
must know as much as anyone else
what is at stake, ” he said.
Watson has been criticised by Cor-
byn supporters for calling for greater
cooperation with the Lib Dems to stop
Brexit and for “exacerbating fears”
over anti semitism within the party.▲ Jacob_Rees-
Mogg in the
Commons, where
he compared
Dr David Nicholl- pictured
above with a
megaphone on
College Green,
Westminster
yesterday – to the
disgraced anti-
vaxxer Andrew
Wakefi eld‘We cannot have any
confi dence in Boris
Johnson abiding
by any commitment
or deal that we
could construct’John McDonnell
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