Rise of the Remainers: Labour Plans to Bring Down Govt, Lib Dems Back Cancelling Brexit

(L) LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats gives her fir
Peter Summers/Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

Reports have revealed that the Labour Party is planning to vote down the Queen’s Speech next month and attempt to topple the Conservative government with a confidence vote, whilst the rabidly pro-Remain Liberal Democrats plan to rally behind revoking Article 50, cancelling Brexit altogether.

The reports come after Parliament was prorogued last night for five weeks ahead of a new parliamentary session and Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost a second vote in the House of Commons calling for a mid-October election to clear out the lower house of Remainers and break the Brexit deadlock. Despite a new law stopping a no deal Brexit and forcing the prime minister to request another three-month Brexit delay of the EU, Boris Johnson has vowed that he will not ask for an extension and will take the UK out of the EU, as pledged, on October 31st.

Party insiders have told The Telegraph that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is considering ordering his lawmakers to reject the Queen’s Speech, and will table a confidence motion in the government if MPs vote down the speech when the new parliamentary session is opened. The Queen’s Speech is set to take place on October 14th, with the possible confidence motion occurring between the 21st and 22nd.

“If he [Mr Johnson] loses the Queen’s speech you still have to have the confidence vote. The question is whether those Tory rebels will vote with us,” a Labour source told the newspaper.

The revelation comes as Mr Corbyn told the Trades Union Congress annual conference on Tuesday that he will be forcing an election, but only after no deal is taken off the table. The socialist had backed down from holding an election on the 15th, making Corbyn the first Opposition leader to block an election in British parliamentary history. Recent YouGov polling puts the Tories 14 points ahead of Labour, with even former Prime Minister Tony Blair warning that an election next month would result in a “comfortable Tory majority”.

If Labour’s plans are successful and Corbyn topples the government, he would either attempt to lead a caretaker administration or call an election.

Senior figures in the Liberal Democrats and the leftist Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) are said to have also discussed the move, with the Opposition Alliance saying it would only support a General Election after October 21st — after Mr Johnson is required to seek a Brexit extension.

The Liberal Democrats are also planning to put their full support behind revoking Article 50 — the legal mechanism for leaving the EU — cancelling Brexit altogether.

Saying she would take the policy to conference and add to the Party manifesto, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson told The Guardian: “Whenever the election comes, our position is clear and unequivocal. A majority Liberal Democrat government would not renegotiate Brexit, we would cancel it by revoking article 50 and remaining in the European Union.”

Despite having gained a few new members through party defections in recent months — notably Chuka Umunna formerly of the Independent Group and Labour, and Philip Lee and Sarah Wollaston from the Tories — the Liberal Democrats are still only the fourth-party in British politics. Positioning themselves as the most anti-Brexit party, they have also effectively closed down talks with Labour — which backs a second referendum and voting Remain — on a potential pact. However, Labour has changed its position before, first pledging in its 2017 manifesto to respect the Brexit vote, but announcing its support for a second referendum and backing Remain in July 2019.

On the party’s vow to stop Brexit, Mr Umunna said: “The Liberal Democrats are the number one choice for people at the next general election who are opposed to Brexit. Our position is clear and unambiguous. A majority Liberal Democrat government would not renegotiate Brexit, we would stop Brexit.”

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