But don’t expect help from Corbyn!
JeReMy Corbyn last night stood accused of shying away from his threats to bring down the Government after he ignored calls from his own MPs to table a vote of no confidence in theresa May.
After the Prime Minister confirmed she was pulling the vote on her deal, dozens of Labour MPs and peers signed a letter to demand Mr Corbyn try to force an election.
the leaders of the Lib Dems and the scottish and Welsh nationalists also urged him to do his ‘duty’.
A motion of no confidence was last successful in 1979 when Margaret thatcher forced the end of Jim Callaghan’s Labour administration.
Labour MP ian Murray said the letter to Mr Corbyn had been written ‘following today’s farcical events by the Government’.
Lib Dem leader sir Vince Cable said: ‘i and my colleagues will fully support the Leader of the Opposition if he now proceeds to a no confidence vote, as duty surely calls.’ sNP leader Nicola sturgeon offered to support the Labour leader in a no-confidence motion, adding: ‘this shambles can’t go on’.
Liz saville Roberts, the Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru, also backed the calls. But last night a Labour Party spokesman rejected them.
‘We will put down a motion of no confidence when we judge it most likely to be successful,’ he said.
When Mrs May returns with ‘ the same deal’ after further talks with Brussels, ‘she will have decisively and unquestionably lost the confidence of Parliament,’ he added. Mrs May’s leadership was described as a ‘shambles’ by her Democratic Unionist Party allies last night, raising fears for the partnership.
‘if anyone needs any further lesson on how not to negotiate, look at the shambles today of the Government having to pull a vote on something that they said was the only way forward,’ DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds told the BBC.
Meanwhile, party leader Arlene Foster reiterated that the PM must get rid of the backstop – an insurance policy to prevent a hard border with ireland. Mrs May relies on the DUP for a working majority in Parliament to pass legislation.