The Guardian - 06.09.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:11 Edition Date:190906 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 5/9/2019 21:00 cYanmaGentaYellowbl

Friday 6 September 2019 The Guardian •

11

Rajeev Syal

The president of the TUC, a close ally of

Jeremy Corbyn, has 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 amid intense

debate among senior party fi gures over

the timing of a national vote.

Serwotka, who is due to address the

fi rst day of the TUC’s annual gather-

ing in Brighton on Sunday, said he

favour ed going to the polls as soon as

anti no-deal legislation was in place.

Kate Proctor

Political correspondent

The former Labour politician Luciana

Berger has joined the Liberal Demo-

crats, becoming the second MP to join

the party in a week.

The MP for Liverpool Wavertree and

remain campaigner said the party is the

only one that has proven to be “une-

quivocal in wanting to stop Brexit”.

In February she quit Labour over the

party’s handling of antisemitism cases

and its approach to Brexit, alongside

six other MPs, to form the fl edging

political group Change UK. The party

split in the summer and she has since

been sitting as an independent.

Berger said: “This is a moment of

national crisis. The Liberal Democrats

are unequivocal in wanting to stop

Brexit and are committed to securing

Britain’s future as a tolerant, open and

inclusive society.

“I am joining Jo Swinson and

the Liberal Democrats today, in the

national interest, to off er a vital, pos-

itive alternative to [Boris] Johnson

and [Jeremy] Corbyn and help build a

future our country deserves.”

In an interview alongside Swinson

“ 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,” he told the Guardian.

“ Having an election leaving Boris

Johnson any opportunity 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 holding an election,” he said.

Serwotka, who has been the gen-

eral secretary of the PCS public service

union since 2001, said the current

in the London Evening Standard,

Berger said they had bonded in a

WhatsApp group for MPs with babies.

Berger, who is Jewish, was a vocal

opponent of Jeremy Corbyn’s handling

of claims of antisemitism and said she

no longer felt welcome in the party.

Labour members in her constitu-

ency attempted to hold a vote of no

confi dence in her while she was preg-

nant with her second child. It was

called off after complaints were made

to the Labour leadership.

When asked how she felt about the

prospect of Labour and the Liberal

Democrats joining in coalition after

a general election, Berger added: “I

think the two-party system is dead in

the water ... We only have to look at the

most recent election result, the Euro-

pean and council in May, to see that.”

Swinson said: “Luciana is a passion-

ate advocate for women’s and LGBT+

rights, and she’s at the forefront of

eff orts to counter antisemitism and

prevent discrimination. I’m delighted

to welcome her to the Liberal Dem-

ocrats, where we can work together

to stop Brexit and build a fairer, more

equal society for all. ”

The Lib Dems now have 16 MPs in

the Commons. The former Tory Phil-

lip Lee joined on Tuesday, crossing

the fl oor of the Commons while Boris

Johnson was in the middle of a speech

to MPs. Chuka Umunna, who took the

same route to the Lib Dems as Berger,

joined the party in June, and in August

Sarah Wollaston joined via the Tories

and Change UK.

Labour MP Jess Phillips paid trib-

ute to her friend and congratulated

her on joining the Lib Dems. The MP

for Birmingham Yardley said: “I am

really pleased that Luciana has felt

that there is a political party she can

join, because I want Luciana Berger

to stand in an election because she is

a wonderful MP.

“You cross all sorts of lines. I’m not

supposed to promote people from

other parties, but this week is unprec-

edented. What we have seen this week

is where I and Jeremy Corbyn have an

alliance with Philip Hammond. What

we have to do now is what’s best for

the country. I think the country is well

served with Luciana in parliament.”

political crisis should mean that

Labour’s deputy leader and others no

longer “indulge” in plots or undermin-

ing tactics against Corbyn.

“The actions of some of the parlia-

mentary Labour party such as Tom

Watson and others have been really

unacceptable. They must know as

much as anyone else what is at stake.

And I think there will be a demand to

keep our eye on the ball here. Now is

not the time to indulge in undermin-

ing Jeremy,” he said.

Watson has been criticised by

Corbyn supporters for calling for

greater cooperation with the Liberal

Democrats to stop Brexit and for

allegedly “exacerbating fears” over

antisemitism within the party – claims

that Watson’s allies deny.

Serwotka dismissed the idea of a

national unity government led by a

parliamentary grandee, adding that he

would only support a Corbyn-led gov-

ernment. “ The last hurrah [of Corbyn’s

critics] is this silly notion that he could

not be a caretaker prime minister so it

would have to be Ken Clarke or Harriet

Harman. Any Labour politician who

gave that any succour is a disgrace.”

Unions

Get behind

party leader,

says TUC boss

Defection

MP Berger

becomes

latest to join

Lib Dems

drugs and radioactive isotopes. The

MP called Nicholl “deeply irrespon-

sible” and said his comments were

“typical of remainer campaigners”.

Rees-Mogg said no-deal prepa-

rations were in place, and added:

“But yes, a lot of remainers wish to

make our skin crawl. And I’m afraid

it seems to me that Dr David Nicholl

is as irresponsible as Dr Wakefi eld.”

Nicholl told the Guardian: “I

would have happily forgiven him his

response on Monday on LBC, given

that I was sprung on him by the radio

station. But in this case he has used his

parliamentary privilege to bully me.

Fundamentally this is about experts

giving advice to the government and

then being ignored and derided.”

A No 10 spokeswoman said : “The

prime minister does not share [Rees-

Mogg’s] view. What is important is that

patients can be fully reassured that the

government is making all necessary

preparations for Brexit on 31 October. ”

The shadow health secretary,

Jonathan Ashworth, called Rees-

Mogg’s comments “offensive,

irresponsible garbage ” and “straight

out of the Trump playbook”.

▼ Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat

leader (centre), and Luciana Berger

in Westminster yesterday

PHOTOGRAPH: JONATHAN BRADY/PA

No-deal preparations

NHS trusts book hotels

NHS trusts in Kent have block-
booked hotel rooms for staff who
may not be able to get in if the
country’s roads become grid locked
in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Health service bosses have also
talked to police about offi cers
helping to get patients through
heavy traffi c to hospitals in Ashford
and Canterbury, which are near the
ports of Dover and Folkestone, the
Health Service Journal reported.
East Kent University Hospitals
NHS trust said it has “booked a
small number of hotel rooms close
to our emergency hospitals as a
precautionary measure, for an initial
two-week period [after 31 October]”.
The William Harvey hospital near
Ashford, a main trauma centre , “is
particularly vulnerable because it
is located just off the M20, which is
already facing signifi cant delays and
disruption due to long-term upgrade
work”, HSJ added. Denis Campbell

▲ Mark Serwotka urged Labour MPs

to step in line behind Jeremy Corbyn

▲ Phillip Lee crossed the Commons

fl oor to join the Lib Dems this week

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