On his way to No. 10?
Jeremy Corbyn wrote to opposition leaders and Tory backbenchers opposed to a no-deal Brexit last week, calling on them to join Labour in a cross-party coalition to oust Boris Johnson in a no-confidence vote, and to form a “caretaker government” on a “strictly time-limited” basis. The alternative government, which he would lead, would seek “to prevent a deeply damaging no deal”, he said, by asking Brussels to extend Article 50. He would then call a general election in which Labour would campaign for a second referendum which included “an option to Remain”. But several opposition politicians, including Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, said they would reject any plan that involved putting Corbyn in Downing Street. Swinson called instead for veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke, the
Father of the House, to lead a “government of national unity”.
Hopes that a no deal could be averted took a further knock this week when Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, reiterated the EU’s determination to reject Johnson’s demand that it re-open negotiations over the Brexit withdrawal agreement and scrap the Irish backstop.
What the editorials said
The major difficulty for those hoping to thwart Johnson’s plan to quit the EU on 31 October is that the law states we will leave on that date, deal or no deal, said The Daily Telegraph. So even if the PM were to lose a no-confidence vote, he could still set an election for November – by which time the UK would already have left. As Corbyn realises, the “only option” now for those who want to stop Johnson is to win that no-confidence vote, and use the “14-day interregnum” specified under the 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act to form a short-lived alternative administration.
Corbyn is “unequivocally right” to put himself forward as leader of an interim government, said The Observer. It’s the only way to fight the “calamity” of a no deal – a calamity whose dire consequences are spelt out in the classified document leaked this week, detailing the Government’s plans for dealing with the crisis ( see page 4). On the contrary, said The Independent, the caretaker leader should be someone who is not seeking to stay in No. 10, someone who would not use the role – as Swinson fears Corbyn would do – to his electoral advantage. It should be someone like Clarke or the Labour MP Harriet Harman, a politician who is prepared to put party to one side.
What the commentators said
Johnson is playing a skilful game, said John Rentoul in The Independent. Almost the first thing he did on entering the contest to replace Theresa May was to say he’d take Britain out of the EU, deal or no deal, at the end of October – and this confident determination to “deliver the undeliverable has scattered his opponents before him”. The sight of opposition forces squabbling over who should head up their “fail-safe scheme” to thwart a no deal is the clearest vindication of his strategy. By refusing to back Corbyn’s scheme, Remainers like Swinson are painting themselves into a corner, said Oliver Wright in The Times. Their only other recourse would be to wrest control of Commons business and pass a law compelling the PM to seek another extension to Article 50 – a tactic that would, to say the least, be “hard” to pull off.
“Let’s be under no illusion” about how the PM intends this to play out, said Gina Miller in The Guardian. Guided by his “arch-Brexiter Svengali” Dominic Cummings, he plans to “sneak” through a no deal not by proroguing (temporarily suspending) Parliament – but by dissolving it. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, Parliament is automatically dissolved 25 days before an election, but by using a draft statutory instrument, the PM could dissolve Parliament even sooner. So the likelihood is that Johnson, “gambling on Corbyn’s unpopularity”, will call an election himself in early September – but with polling set for after 31 October. Such an “election lock would close the doors of Parliament and legally push the UK over the EU exit date”. While opposition MPs bicker, Johnson is plotting to “pull the rug from under their feet”.
Of course, it’s still possible that Johnson and the EU will clinch a last-minute compromise, said Iain Martin in The Times – but this week’s events all point in a different direction: to a no-deal Brexit this autumn. Indeed, the forces of Remain and compromise are now “virtually defeated”, agreed Jeremy Warner in The Daily Telegraph. “Divided, apathetic and resigned”, they have little chance of mustering the strength now required to block a no-deal outcome. And they had better get used to it. “The battle is lost. The world has changed, and they must change with it.”
What next?
Boris Johnson was due to meet Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron this week, before travelling on to Biarritz where he will join other EU and world leaders at this weekend’s 45th G7 summit. Although Brexit is not on the official agenda, the subject is likely to be much discussed on the sidelines.
British officials will stop attending most EU meetings from September, the Brexit Secretary, Steve Barclay, has said. His department will slash attendance by more than half to “unshackle” government resources, he said. In future, ministers and officials will only attend meetings at which the UK has a “significant national interest”, and will instead focus on non-EU countries.