A leading pro-Brexit Tory MP has stated frankly, in the aftermath of the confidence vote among her parliamentary party this evening, that the scale of the vote against her leadership and her inability to pass legislation means that she ought to go immediately to meet the queen and resign.
In fact, Jacob Rees-Mogg went further – telling the BBC that May ‘must recognise‘ that constitutionally her position is untenable:
Establishment commentators were predicting, before the result was announced, that anything over a hundred of her colleagues voting against her would catastrophically weaken Theresa May – and clearly Rees-Mogg feels that the eventual tally of 117 is disastrous for the lame-duck PM.
The hollow spin by May’s supporters can’t disguise reality – and even the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg couldn’t bring herself to describe May’s and the government’s position as less than ‘very precarious’ this evening.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
For Labour supporters the result is, perhaps surprisingly, excellent news. May’s situation is as hopeless as ever, her chances of persuading the EU to agree any concessions as slim as ever, the disillusionment of the DUP as great as ever and her prospects of applying enough polish to the turd as remote as ever.
For all who want a general election, a Labour government and the genuinely better country that will result, the fact that she remains in place but even more badly damaged than this morning is cause for grim satisfaction – and grim determination to bring the whole, abysmal Tory circus to an end.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.
It looks like JRM may be suffering from PE (metaphorically of couse) and has shot his load too early.
… and things are getting a bit desperate when it’s necessary to quote the Moggy on anything for comfort! You notice he doesn’t apply similar criteria to the referendum vote 🙂
This result was entirely predictable (as was Mogg) and changes nothing substantially.
What news?
That old mill must be a bitch to heat.
David
Is that the Mill in Fife?
‘…constitutionally her position is untenable…’
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
CONSTITUTION
4 : an established law or custom
So much has been said about the UK’s unwritten constitution that it’s worth looking up the definition of the word in dictionaries to determine if indeed there is such a thing as ‘unwritten constitution’. And, Yes, there is such a thing. So, in view of the above, is JRM correct?
Let’s look at the parliamentary arithmetic regarding Brexit vote:
Total MPs = 650; Number required to pass Brexit Bill = 326;
The question is, can she muster 326? Currently, she has 200, that is if we are to be a bit liberal with the figures, given that support for her leadership does not necessarily mean support for Withdrawal Bill. But all the 117 that voted against her WILL vote against Withdrawal Bill. She needs a minimum of 126 to pass the Bill. Where can she get the 126? Not from the DUP, nor the LibDems, nor the SNP. That leaves her with Labour MPs to shop around. She might pick off our LFI, say +-90, and bribe a further +-50 of our hardcore Blairites faction who have nothing to loose anyway by joining forces with the Tories because they are facing deselections. That gives her +-140, which will be enough to pass the bill, and win a parliamentary no confidence vote. It will be a close call on account of our anti-Corbyn PLP.
“It will be a close call on account of our anti-Corbyn PLP.”
… which gives Corbyn clear and obvious routes through this morass – if he so chooses to cut the legs of the internal right.
The UK is governed by rule of law which is on the statue book. There is no formal constitution although it could be argued the UK should have one.
As long as it isn’t a Tory version where all rights are conditional, which means they are no longer rights but privileges to be earned.
And as long as it isn’t a US style constitution where what people thought in 1787 is revered as holy writ.
Not sure where to put this but did anybody else see Hans-Olaf Henkel on BBC News this morning (Friday) talking about how the EU is leaning more and more toward migration restriction and how the EU should offer UK “special arrangements” to persuade us to remain?
He seemed to think migration was the main Brexit issue and I suspect he may be correct in that, given that it was UKIP inspired.
I know nothing more about him or his other views so not suggesting he’s any kind of saviour.
Searching his name I found this too:
https://new-deal-for-britain.de/