SCOTLAND BALKS AT RESULT, LABOUR IN TURMOIL
Labour’s Corbyn faces revolt in shadow cabinet
• Britain’s shocking decision to remove itself from the European Union brought more political turmoil Sunday as Scotland’s leader threatened to block the move and the Labour Party’s leader veered dangerously close to losing his post.
The sense of unease spread as European leaders stepped up the pressure on Britain to begin its complex extrication from the 28-nation EU immediately, rather than wait several months as British Prime Minister David Cameron prefers.
With London’s jittery stock market set to reopen Monday, the leaders of the successful campaign to leave the EU stayed largely out of the public eye, offering few signals about their plans.
If they were silent, Scotland was not. Popular First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would “consider” advising the Scottish Parliament to try to use its power to prevent Britain from actually leaving the EU. She said Scottish lawmakers might be able to derail the move by withholding “legislative consent” for a British exit, or Brexit.
“If the Scottish Parliament was judging this on the basis of what’s right for Scotland, then the option of saying ‘We’re not going to vote for something that is against Scotland’s interests,’ of course, that is on the table,” she said of the possibility of withholding consent.
Sturgeon said she believes Scotland’s approval is required for the move but conceded the British government would likely take “a very different view.”
Thursday’s vote to leave the EU was widely unpopular in Scotland, where 62 per cent cast ballots to stay, and Sturgeon says she is studying ways to keep Scotland part of the bloc.
The Scottish question looms large because Sturgeon also has said another referendum on Scottish independence from Britain is “highly likely” as a result of Britain’s EU vote. A Scottish referendum in 2014 ended with voters deciding to remain in Britain, but analysts believe Britain’s withdrawal from the EU may strengthen the independence movement.
In Northern Ireland, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said his priority is forging “special arrangements” to enable Northern Ireland to maintain its EU ties. Some Brexit opponents have also talked of trying to use Northern Ireland’s Assembly to try to block Britain’s departure.
Northern Ireland voters also expressed a preference for keeping Britain in the EU. Unhappiness with the results is adding to the sense that the Brexit vote may over time lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom.
Cameron said after the results that he will resign as prime minister when the Conservative Party chooses a new leader, who will be charged with implementing the separation from the EU.
The new party leader, who will become prime minister, is expected to be in place by October. At that point, he or she may choose to call a quick election to solidify a mandate — and the prospect of an election in the near future may have spurred a revolt Sunday against Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn that has been simmering for months.
Corbyn, criticized by many for doing a weak job presenting the party’s position favouring EU membership, faces an open rebellion from senior members of his shadow cabinet. At least eight members resigned Sunday after Corbyn fired shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn overnight for reportedly plotting a rebellion against him. The dissidents want Corbyn, who represents the far-left wing of the party, ousted before the next general election because many believe he cannot win.
“He’s a good and decent man, but he is not a leader,” Benn said of Corbyn during an interview with the BBC. “That’s the problem.”
In her resignation letter, shadow heath secretary Heidi Alexander bluntly told Corbyn he had to go. “I do not believe you have the capacity to shape the answers our country is demanding and I believe that if we are to form the next government, a change of leadership is essential,” she wrote.
Corbyn has vowed to stand firm and began to rally a counter movement to fend off the coup attempt. As the resignations came one after another Sunday, his allies rushed to his defence, with shows of support planned for early in the week. Corbyn’s fate, however, is seen as secondary to the question of who will lead the Conservatives.
Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London and the leading voice in the campaign to exit the EU, is considered the favourite to take over from Cameron. But the flamboyant Johnson is a magnet for controversy. Newspapers Sunday were filled with reports of gathering efforts by other Conservatives to deny him the post.
THE OPTION OF SAYING ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO VOTE FOR SOMETHING THAT IS AGAINST SCOTLAND’S INTERESTS,’ OF COURSE, THAT IS ON THE TABLE. — NICOLA STURGEON