Election ‘not in national interest’
May rejects calls to ‘make way for Corbyn’
LABOUR LEADER Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell were accused of being “simply not fit to hold high office” by one of their former MPs as their no-confidence motion in the Government was defeated by 19 votes.
Sheffield-born John Woodcock, the independent MP for Barrow and Furness who left Labour last summer, said “with a heavy heart” that he could not support the no-confidence motion tabled by Mr Corbyn on Tuesday night.
Speaking during the Commons debate on the motion of no confidence in the Government, Mr Woodcock said the public “deserve leadership to lead the public out of this Brexit mess and they deserve a government and leadership that they can trust to keep them secure”.
During the debate, Mr Corbyn urged Theresa May’s “zombie Government” to make way and declared her “Frankenstein” Brexit deal officially dead.
The Labour leader attacked Mrs May for presiding over “the largest defeat in the history of our democracy” on her Brexit deal before saying there has been no offer of all-party talks from the Prime Minister to break the impasse.
Mrs May rose to cheers and the stamping of feet from her backbenchers and told Mr Corbyn a general election would be “the worst thing we could do”.
She said: “It would deepen division when we need unity, it would bring chaos when we need certainty, and it would bring delay when we need to move forward, so I believe this House should reject this motion.
“At this crucial moment in our nation’s history, a general election is simply not in the national interest.”
In a closing speech, Environment Secretary Michael Gove praised the Prime Minister’s “inspirational leadership” as he wound up the debate, and tore into Jeremy Corbyn.
The debate also saw contributions from Yorkshire MPs, with Bradford West MP Naz Shah saying the Government “isn’t fit for purpose when programmes like I,
Daniel Blake is many people’s reality and no longer a fiction”.
She said: “The Government wasn’t fit for purpose when the Prime Minister knew her deal was dead before recess and yet chose to sabotage and hold Parliament hostage by delaying the vote and the list goes on.”
Hull West and Hessle MP Emma Hardy cited the increase in suicides in Yorkshire as she criticised the Government.
She said: “My constituency covers the Humber Bridge and I have mentioned this before – the Humber Bridge has become a hot spot for suicides – people coming from around the country to take their own lives.
“What greater damning indictment of this government can there be that they have left people in such a state of despair?”
Earlier, 71 Labour MPs and 13 MEPs signed a letter backing a second referendum on withdrawal from the European Union.
The MPs said they backed leader Jeremy Corbyn’s tabling of a no-confidence motion in the hope of forcing an early general election, but said if this did not succeed the party should “unequivocally” back a public vote.
Separately, the Exiting the EU select committee said yesterday that MPs should be given an opportunity to delay Brexit if Parliament cannot reach agreement on a way forward.
The committee, led by Labour’s Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, said it was “vital” the House was given the chance to identify a plan that could command a majority.
It called for a series of “indicative votes” on the various options, something Downing Street has so far rejected, to establish where a majority could be found.