Labour to let May ‘limp on’ before trying to topple her next month
LABOUR will not table a vote of no confidence in the Government until after Christmas because MPS must first have their say on Theresa May’s Brexit deal, a senior ally of Jeremy Corbyn has said.
Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities secretary, suggested Labour will not try to topple Mrs May until mid-january which is when the Prime Minister is due to bring her deal back to the House of Commons for a meaningful vote.
Mr Gwynne said Mrs May would “limp on” until MPS had rejected her deal and it would be at that point that Labour would strike.
The comments put the Labour frontbench at odds with many of the party’s MPS who have insisted a no-confidence vote take place as soon as possible.
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister and leader of the SNP, urged Labour to table a vote this week as she said she believed it could succeed.
She said that if Labour did not act the SNP would take the initiative by bringing forward its own motion.
Yesterday when confronted by reporters outside a meeting to discuss the UN poverty report, Mr Corbyn repeatedly refused to confirm when he was going to make a move on Brexit or take action to trigger a general election.
Asked if he was running scared, the Labour leader responded: “Thank you very much for your question, you’ll hear the move when it happens.”
Mr Gwynne suggested yesterday that moment would come if and when Mrs May’s deal is defeated in the Commons and MPS are staring down the barrel of a no-deal Brexit.
Asked if it was Labour’s intention not to put down a motion of no confidence until after the meaningful vote, Mr Gwynne said: “Well, we think that that’s the next logical step, because we want to make sure that Parliament has its say on what is a catastrophically bad deal for this country.
“We can then move on beyond that. But, you know, I’m not interested in the theatrics of what goes on in the House of Commons.
“I want to make sure that Parliament takes that control of this process and has a say on Theresa May’s deal.”
Mr Gwynne said Labour would act “when we can succeed”. Mrs May has committed to holding a vote on her deal by Jan 21.
“Until the Commons has had its view on Theresa May’s deal she’s going to limp on, pretending that this can get through,” Mr Gwynne told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show.
Nick Brown, Labour’s chief whip, echoed a similar sentiment as he said “the ball is in the Government’s court”.
“Clearly, we would hold it if we had a prospect of winning,” he said.
Ms Sturgeon urged Mr Corbyn to bring forward a no-confidence vote as soon as possible as she reiterated the SNP would support Labour.
She told Sky News: “[It] is possible that a confidence motion right now could succeed. This is a government that is [becoming] more weak and unstable with every day that passes.”
‘We want to make sure that Parliament has its say on what is a catastrophically bad deal for this country’