With the nominal Day Of Brexit Reckoning fast approaching - three weeks to go, come next Thursday - one problem for those looking to dislodge alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and install a temporary national unity Government in place of the Tories is the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson.
Ms Swinson, who represents East Dunbartonshire, a constituency that reaches from the north of Glasgow round to the east of the city, wants to stop Brexit happening. So she most certainly wants to avoid a No Deal Brexit. Yet her inability to countenance having Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as temporary PM brings No Deal Brexit ever nearer.
After Sky News reported late last month that “Labour has released its draft statement on Brexit which says a Labour government would secure a sensible leave deal with the EU within three months”, off she went. “If you want to remain in the EU, then only the [Lib Dems] offer that option. Join the thousands of people joining our party and help us [Stop Brexit]”. But it was not about mere sloganeering.
Her insistence was for a Government of National Unity with someone who was not Jezza leading it. “This thread highlights dangers of VONC playing into Johnson's hands. I believe arithmetic for GNU could be there, led by respected MP above current political fray. But immediate priority must be securing A50 extension to remove No Deal threat”.
Who was this “respected MP”? If the current Government falls, the leader of the opposition gets first dibs on forming a replacement. That means Corbyn. On the one hand, she shows her dislike of Bozo The Clown - telling “A boss putting his hand on a junior colleague's inner thigh isn’t a ‘private matter’ [Matt Hancock], it’s sexual harassment and an abuse of power. Appalling to suggest otherwise”, and suggesting she opposes him.
Like when she asserted “Increasingly clear Boris Johnson isn’t serious about getting a deal. No one who was would suggest this plan. There is no deal as good as the one we have as members of the EU, which is why [Lib Dems] will keep fighting to [Stop Brexit]”. But then, on the other hand, she starts laying into Jezza, playing fantasy politics.
So off she went to the Murdoch Times to tell anyone listening “Corbyn must say who he would back to lead an emergency government, writes [Jo Swinson]”. And this weekend, on learning John McDonnell won’t entertain a GNU that doesn’t have Jezza leading it, off she went again. “Now the truth comes out. The Labour Party would rather have no-deal than entertain *any* of the other options people have suggested for an emergency PM”.
No. Just no. There is only one party leader - apart from Bozo - who is making a No Deal Brexit more likely, and that is Ms Swinson. She’s not being asked to endorse Corbyn for a full five year term, just the few weeks it would take to set up a General Election and ensure No Deal is banished for good. She is effectively batting for Bozo.
As Jon Trickett has put it, “Jo Swinson's anti-Corbyn stance is designed to woo Tory voters … Attempts to prevent a disastrous no-deal Brexit could be derailed if Jo Swinson sticks by her opposition to a Corbyn-led government”. Got it in one.
Give your head a shake, Ms Swinson. Do you want No Deal Brexit banished or not?
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Sadly you are falling into the Tory trap of blaming the Lib Dems for no deal.
ReplyDeleteCorbyn does not have the numbers, as the ex Tories have repeatable said they will not give Corbyn the keys to No 10. They and the Lib Dems are pointed this out.
They have not said no to a Labour Government, as they proposed other Labour MPs who could act as interim PM.
If, as you said its only to avoid no deal and then get an election, why not take the compromise for a few weeks.
Besides why do the Tories want an election so badly? Because on current polling they will win again. Please don't give me the look at what happened in 2017. How many people voted labour tactically to stop May's hard brexit, and afterwards got lumped into the 80% of people voted for parties that support Brexit.
Don't expect those people to vote labour again after that.
Jo "Tuition fees/Iraq invasion" Swinson?
ReplyDeletePah. A mere Yellow tory. The LibDems are full of 'em......Whatever happened to Nick "£9k fees" Clegg?
Jo Swinson has delusions of grandeur. She wants to be the official opposition and she wants to be the head of a temporary unity govt, but here's the thing: SHE doesn't have the numbers. The SNP's Ian Blackford sum it up perfectly; she will rue this stance in any GE
ReplyDeleteIf the caretaker government is "only for a few weeks" and it's only real function is to ensure that no-deal is avoided and a general election to be called ASAP then why insist on Corbyn?
ReplyDeleteIt is quite clear that none of the current Tory MPs, nor any of the 21 rebels, will support a Corbyn led government under any circumstances. Without their support Corbyn cannot get to form a government with or without the LibDems - he simply hasn't got the numbers.
So let him have "first dibs" and when he inevitably fails, cos he can't get the numbers, let him give way for a unity government under someone they can all agree on. After all - it's only for a "few weeks" isn't it ?!!
"Unity government" my arse.
ReplyDeleteThat will simply be tory policies by another name. And we know where that got us.....
In any case, international capitalism is shaping for another of its usual Great Depressions. In which case Britain's function will be limited to the M25 ghetto as a criminal money laundering centre. It's been that way for forty years. It'll stay like that until a British government has the guts to kick them out and send them all the way back to the USA.