SNP tells Labour: Now is the time to topple May
● As PM launches desperate EU tour, opposition rows over when to strike
Attempts to build a united front to oust Prime Minister Theresa May have collapsed into acrimony in a row between Labour and the SNP over when a vote of no confidence in the UK government should be called.
Jeremy Corbyn cancelled a meeting with the SNP’S Westminster leader after Ian Blackford set an ultimatum for Labour to table a motion of no confidence by the end of yesterday.
Labour accused the SNP of “game playing” and the shadow chancellor John Mcdonnell claimed the Nationalists wanted to “avoid a general election because they know we’re breathing down their necks in Scotland and will take seats off them”.
The row spilled over into the House of commons chamber where sn pmp Stewart Mcdonald accused a senior Labour parliamentarian of calling him a “piece of s**t”. Labour have said they will only move a motion of no confidence when they are certain it can be won.
But the SNP hit back by saying now was “not the time for game playing or finding excuses to do nothing”.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon accused Mr Corbyn of sitting on the fence, saying: “For goodness sake, if the time is
not right now, when will the time be right?”
Speaking to the BBC’S Today programme, the First Minister said: “The clock is ticking, time is running out and if there is to be a different path found – and there must be a different path found to the one that Theresa May currently has the UK on – there isn’t time to lose.”
Ms Sturgeon, whose party supports a second EU referendum, said the only thing blocking a parliamentary majority for a fresh vote was the fact that “Labour is not yet behind that”.
She said: “If Labour get behind that, I do think there is a prospect of a majority for that. But, in order to put that to the test to get to that point, we need to get Labour off of the fence that it is determinedly sitting on right now and backing a clear way forward.”
Mr Corbyn came under cross-party pressure to force Mrs May from office and clear the way for a second EU referendum, with the Westminster leaders of the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens, as well as Conservative and Labour backbenchers, all appealing for action.
At a joint press conference yesterday morning, Mr Blackford gave Mr Corbyn until the end of the day to bring a motion of no confidence, adding that “if Jeremy can’t … then we as the leaders of the other opposition parties must rise to that challenge”.
Conservative MP Anna Soubry challenged Mr Corbyn to bring a motion of no con-
fidence in her own government, saying: “The biggest obstacle to a People’s Vote at the moment is Jeremy Corbyn.
“If not now, when, Jeremy? He has got to start this process now.”
She later clarified that she would not vote for a no confidence motion.
Mr Blackford said: “Our message to Jeremy Corbyn is that all of us have to work together to move that motion of no confidence.
“I appeal to Jeremy to do that, but all of us working together
have got to accept our responsibilities, and if Jeremy can’t put himself in that position, then we as the leaders of the other opposition parties must rise to that challenge and we must put down that motion of no confidence.”
A motion of no confidence must win majority support in the House of Commons and is unlikely to pass unless it is supported by the DUP, who say they could still protect Mrs May if her Brexit deal fails in a vote of MPS.
“The SNP and others calling
for an immediate noconfidence vote admit that they know it would fail,” said Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery. “They know a failed motion would unite the Tories, prevent us from getting a general election and keep this shambles of a Tory government in power.”
Mr Lavery insisted Labour was “fully prepared to bring a no-confidence motion”, but said the party “aren’t going to table one for the purpose of it being defeated, strengthening May and uniting Tories”.
An SNP spokesman said: “John Mcdonnell is clutching at straws. The SNP would relish a general election.
“We are the only party which has been consistent in its opposition to the Tories’ Brexit shambles and recent polls suggest we would win seats from Labour, not the reverse.
“However, this is not the time for game playing or finding excuses to do nothing. It is a time for clear and decisive leadership.”