Cross-party move by Labour to prevent damaging no-deal Brexit omitted from flagship 6pm news broadcast
Labour is leading a cross-party parliamentary attempt to prevent the damaging no-deal Brexit scenario favoured by Tory leadership hopefiuls. It was not mentioned during the BBC’s main 6pm news.
The party has tabled a cross-party motion that would hand control of the parliamentary agenda to MPs on Tuesday 25 June 2019 – countering moves to shut down Parliament that have been flagged by a number of Tory leadership candidates, as well as the more likely route of the new Tory PM simply doing nothing until the UK’s Brexit extension expires.
If the motion passes, MPs will have the chance to introduce measures, including legislation, that could help avoid a no deal Brexit at the end of October. This would prevent a future Prime Minister proroguing Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit against the wishes of MPs.
The motion will use the same procedure that was used earlier this year to block a no-deal Brexit in March. The intervention comes as a no-deal Brexit has become the key dividing line in the Tory leadership contest.
Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer MP said:
The debate on Brexit in the Tory leadership contest has descended into the disturbing, the ludicrous and the reckless.
None of the likely candidates for the top job has a credible plan for how to break the deadlock before the end of October. Instead, we have witnessed candidates openly advocating a damaging no deal Brexit and even proposing dragging the Queen into politics by asking her to shut down Parliament to achieve this.
MPs cannot be bystanders while the next Tory Prime Minister tries to crash the UK out of the European Union without a deal and without the consent of the British people. That’s why we are taking this latest measure to end the uncertainty and protect communities across the country.
My challenge to MPs who disagree either with a no deal Brexit or proroguing Parliament is to back this motion and act in the national interest.
The motion is sponsored by Jeremy Corbyn, the SNP’s Ian Blackford, LibDem Vince Cable and other MPs, including Conservative Oliver Letwin and Green Caroline Lucas. It reads:
Business of the House Motion (United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union)
(1)That, on Tuesday 25 June –
(a) Standing Order No. 14(1) (which provides that government business shall have precedence at every sitting save as provided in that order) shall not apply;
(b) precedence shall be given to a motion relating to the Business of the House in connection with matters relating to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union;
(c) if more than one motion relating to the Business of the House is tabled, the Speaker shall decide which motion shall have precedence;
(d) the Speaker shall interrupt proceedings on any business having precedence before the Business of the House motion at 1.00 pm and call a Member to move that motion;
(e) debate on that motion may continue until 2.00 pm at which time the Speaker shall put the questions necessary to dispose of proceedings on that motion including the questions on amendments selected by the Speaker which may then be moved;
(f) any proceedings interrupted or superseded by this order may be resumed or (as the case may be) entered upon and proceeded with after the moment of interruption.
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I can’t access UK TV but I did listen to PM and the 6 pm news on Radio 4 and the Tory leadership circus was relegated to 2nd place by the “Oxfam scandal.” Forgive me for being a cynic (and I said this at the time the story first came out) but I think this story is being promoted to punish Oxfam for revealing the vast disparity of wealth in the world, not so different from Jeremy Corbyn being a blatant antisemite. Yes, some of Oxfam’s staff were out of order, a small number of Labour members have been out of order but to suggest that that should result in the loss of A) >16million quid to Oxfam or arguably B) the 2017 General Election for Labour is preposterous. The BBC have some answering to do.
“Labour is leading a cross-party parliamentary attempt to prevent the damaging no-deal Brexit scenario favoured by Tory leadership hopefiuls. It was not mentioned during the BBC’s main 6pm news”.
Could it be because the programme is deputy-edited by Margaret Hodge’s daughter, Lizzi Watson??!
(Sorry to be a bore, endlessly repeating this fact, but it needs doing in the absence of any trickle-down!)
Tim you may be interested in this from today’s Electronic Intifada
https://electronicintifada.net/content/inside-israels-million-dollar-troll-army/27566?utm_source=EI+readers&utm_campaign=fb78ad7b9d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e802a7602d-fb78ad7b9d-299209357
it gives details of a leaked report from Act.Il
“A global influence campaign funded by the Israeli government had a $1.1 million budget last year, a document obtained by The Electronic Intifada shows.
Act.IL says it has offices in three countries and an online army of more than 15,000.
In its annual report, from January, Act.IL says its goal is to “influence foreign publics” and “battle” BDS – the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights”
This bit was also interesting
“The report doesn’t give details of any UK office. But it does name UK lobby group ‘We Believe in Israel’ and the far-right group ‘Sussex Friends of Israel’ as among its “partnerships.”
We Believe in Israel’s director, the right-wing Labour activist Luke Akehurst, did not reply to a request for comment.”
Steve, yes, very interesting. The same Luke Akehurst who has an article on Labour List’s website today commending Streeting, Phillips etc on staying in the Labour Party.
I’m afraid I couldn’t bring myself to read further than the headline
Correction: the 7 pm BBC Radio news headlines promoted Torywars to No. 1, Labour/SNP etc. motion to No.2 and demoted Oxfam to No. 3 – perhaps there’s hope yet!
will become clear next week that two No Dealers will go forward
then we call VONC and lose as Turkeys refuse to vote for Christmas,
FTPA will see this nightmare through to 2022
So time for us to get on with Housekeeping
A No Deal would leave us vulnerable to the Americans and the other big trading blocks…China et al ! The Tory Right /Farage would do well in that situation but the rest of us would be screwed like the millions in American today in poverty !
Staying in the EU is our ONLY protection !
Take a look at all the grinding poverty in this country and across europe and then remind yourself that the UK is still IN the eu. So your point is…..??
‘Greece is the canary in the EU mineshaft’ Yanis Varoufakis
Blame the tory ideologies for that, not the EU. Just blaming EU is too simplistic a view to take.
“Take a look at all the grinding poverty in this country”
.. then take a look at the grinding poverty in the US, China and Russia … etc (take your pick) – none of which are in the EU.
“So your point is…..??”
Forgive me for being presumptuous Elias, but your name is Greek-sounding.
Have you forgotten what the EU has done ‘to’ – rather than ‘for’ – Greece & Cyprus?
This is now second main news item in the BBC On line app
Emily Maitliss’ ”big issue’ on BBC Newsnight was Rory Stewart’s ‘Man-Spread’, as Pompeo threatens to stop the election of Jeremy Corbyn.
The EU is an avowedly capitalist organisation, and any deal – like the May Deal – will have as its central hub the preservation of neoliberalism.
Having provisions to maintain and preserve neoliberalism is not a matter of indifference to EU negotiators. It is the absolute pivot. A central object of the EEC/EU after all was to bring about the constitutional protection of capitalism and to thwart European socialism.
Crucially it is absolutely not a case of “dastardly foreigners”: the EU elite are entirely in cahoots with the British neoliberals who form the political establishment to preserve that constitutional protection. Their aim is to fashion a deal which preserves the power of the economic elite against the vagaries of democracy which might – horror of horrors – elect a democratic socialist government at some future stage.
If we want to have the power for a British government to transition from capitalism to democratic socialism then the only option is a No Deal Brexit. Without it, forget about a planned economy backed up by public ownership.
Sadly much of the Labour Left is now as committed to neoliberalism as the Labour Right, but they got their by a different route – by the current “political herding” against a No Deal Brexit.
I would like to announce that I support Raab as leader of the Conservative Party…………..Raab C. Nesbitt that is.
This is strange indeed ! As with all the current Skwawkbox items , there are NO Right Wing Troll disruptive posts so far today ! NONE .. even on that core Troll issue, Brexit, and Labour’s policy on same ! This does suggest that the tiresome group of four or five usually day-long constant Troll posters are either all off at a Mandelson/Campbell briefing meeting on how to improve their lamentably poor Trolling arguments, or there is no actual group of Trolls – just one paid troll guy with multiple online identities – off at the dentists , or away getting a bollocking from Mandelson for such crap quality trolling ?
Oh, just spotted Sabine , trolling away to defend the EU. But, where are your usual troll mates this morning , Sabine ?
As said – see the word ‘troll’ and you know that what follows is likely to be bullshit’. A sheer give-away.
But I see, Ha’penny that you’re also into the sad business of stalking and clock-watching.
Such is the life of the fringe pursuit of pseudo-Marxism at playtime : a lonely occupation of making imagined straw men and then chucking stuff at them while the world passes by unheeding.
You’ve got the darkened room – now just go and lie down.
Len McCluskey’s letter to The Guardian – in full
Dear editor
Polly Toynbee cannot help caricaturing herself as the metropolitan snob whose disregard for life outside north London still leaves her, three years on, struggling to understand the 2016 referendum result.
the version printed in the Guardian was edited (I wonder why?)
Good to see a time limit has been noted, unlike the brexit delegate meeting where starmer held captive delegates for 7 hours in a room without food whilst he altered the original motion