SNP set to table censure motion against ‘disastrous’ PM

BORIS Johnson is facing his first censure vote by the House of Commons over his performance as Prime Minister.

The SNP will use its opposition time tomorrow to table a motion of censure against him.

The move was revealed by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford in his speech to his party’s online conference yesterday.

He said the SNP would “act as the real opposition” while Labour failed to hold the Prime Minister to account for his “disastrous actions”.

The motion is unlikely to pass, but could prove embarrassing if any Tory MPS back it or, more likely, withhold their support for the PM by abstaining.

Mr Blackford announced the plan as he attacked Mr Johnson for the chaotic CBI speech in which he discussed Peppa Pig World, and a series of scandals amounting to “corruption”.

Accusing Mr Johnson of getting more out of his depth every day, he said: “All of us have a sense of just how damaging and dangerous it is that chaotic governance now defines

Downing Street. That would be bad enough in normal times, but it is unforgivable in a pandemic.

“It was previously said that the Prime Minister’s office was no place for a novice. Well, it is no place for a negligent either.

“In the absence of actions from others in holding this Prime Minister to account, it is once again our job to act as the real opposition. On Tuesday, the SNP will use our opposition day to put down a motion of censure.

“Because unless this Prime Minister is censured, unless he faces consequences for his disastrous actions – he won’t just think he’s gotten away with the mess he has made of the last few months, he will think he can do it all over again.”

A motion of censure cannot trigger the fall of a government even if passed, as only a specifically worded motion of no confidence can do that.

According to the Institute for Government, the last censure motion was tabled by Labour in December 2018 against then PM Theresa May. However, the Government refused to make time available for it to be debated.

Labour previously used the motions against then transport minister Chris Grayling and pensions secretary Esther Mcvey – they were debated but defeated.