LibDem leader takes a break during constitutional crisis
Today saw protests in towns and cities up and down the country, as MPs and the public rallied to demonstrate for democracy and against Boris Johnson’s ‘prorogation’ of Parliament to prevent MPs holding him to account for his no-deal Brexit push.
Johnson’s move, in which he misled the Queen about his reasons for the suspension, has triggered a constitutional crisis – and the response has seen Jeremy Corbyn and a host of Labour MPs joining the public, unions and other groups at rallies and marches to defend the UK’s democracy.
With Parliament returning next week with only a few days to act before the suspension kicks in, every minute is vital – but it seems LibDem leader Jo Swinson has a different view.
The SKWAWKBOX received reports that Ms Swinson has taken a vacation – and the LibDem press office confirmed this evening that she is on holiday ‘with her family’.
The LibDem leader attracted criticism earlier this month for claiming she would ‘do whatever it takes’ to prevent a no-deal Brexit, in the same speech in which she said she wouldn’t support Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to stand as ‘interim PM’ to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
She was also derided over her preference to see Tory Ken Clarke as interim PM, even though the veteran Conservative said he wanted to enact Brexit with a better deal – and for holding a series of talks with Boris Johnson.
Her decision to take a break during a crisis that may tip the UK off the no-deal Brexit ‘cliff’ is unlikely to escape a similar response – especially when she has falsely claimed that Corbyn went on holiday during the 2016 referendum campaign.
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Well it certainly shows what her priorities are , just lock that little fact away for future reference .
The only chance of stopping Brexit is for Lib Dem and Labour to be united against it, same with a GE. The pro-Brexit/Tory vote is 44/45% at the moment so only an electoral alliance could beat them.
Rayvisno…..The lib dems are not interested in supporting anything with Labour….shes buggered off on holiday…….Cant you read.A bloody good insurrection on the streets and mps locking themselves in parliament,might work……But relying on the lib dems would be as daft as asking T Watson to support Jeremy Corbyn
Will she be back on Tuesday for a VONC if there is to be one. Numbers count or has Johnson paid her to go on hols
Concernedkev…..again,shes buggered off and is not interested in supporting Labour,…..more chance of supporting Bozzo!….Shes already been paid and its the same lot who are funding Watson and his supporters….The electors should soon see who they can rely on and it wont be libdems or Tory or Labour rebels…..They have all been bought and paid for services rendered to the establishment
Admittedly LibDem members were fishing in a puddle when they selected their new leader but is Jo Swinson, who’s only discernible skill is an ability to plead ‘sincerely’ to camera, really the best they have to offer.
Her lack of political nounce has been very quickly exposed.
Steve ..when Thatcher was elected many thought including me that she was a joke with her snooty drawl and stupid facial expressions.We all know what happened after that….?nightmare for the Working class and millions on the scrap heap…..Stupid or drunk does not disqualify anyone look at Churchill…?
The robotic way she gesticulates while she’s ‘being sincere’ makes her look like a string puppet operated by another string puppet taught puppetry by a stick insect.
Hope…..Swansong chose somwhere nice….just another day in paradise for miss parasite and her parasite parasite Libdems……Just a job..for miss posh frocks….forget we’ve just had a virtual coup from Johnson with the country shaken and people protesting……She collects her money 💰 and buggers off on holiday…..I wonder how many of them are planning on an extended holiday on us!…..you couldn’t make it up?…Who would believe it?…..its going to be anyone for tennis next and make mine a large one?…..my tiny working class mind cannot grasp this affront to humanity,she’ cant be real,who assembled this AI experiment gone wrong? …..bloody hell its…..Gobsmacked???
Jeremy Corbyn gets a front page article to speak for the people?……Well even the guardians pannicking and turning to Corbyn for some HELP……whilst Jeremy already there speaking to Glasgow!
Ps….another e.mail from momentum….telling me where and when the next protest….online map and expected turnout…..more donations asked to fight for a Labour government…….And I am aware of lansmans feifdom and his Zionists leanings but really we have morw money 💰 and more resources….and nobody informs me what’s going on except Squawk box…..why can’t we get organized and follow Momentum in informing and radicalising our massive membership using our resources?……take this as a wish list not criticism of the superb work our leader does…but we can follow his lead if we new beforehand!
The ineffectual middle-class hissy fit against the prorogation was really not terribly well attended, despite MSM efforts to big it up. That much was clearly apparent from the television footage.
The so-so attendance was hardly surprising since the venture only appealed to one section of British society: the middle class. So if our new chums like Jo Swinson think they and their sharp elbows are better served by staying on holiday, so be it. The marches probably lost far more protesters every time they passed a café offering smashed avocado on sourdough toast. The Labour Left used to want to smash capitalism, now they only want to smash avocado.
The REAL crime against democracy is NOT the prorogation but the political elite’s refusal to implement the referendum. But now that Labour under Corbyn has joined that elite as the Party of Remain it has roped itself to the middle class and to left-liberalism; so heaven forfend that we should ride to the rescue of the 64 per cent of working class voters who voted Leave.
We have adopted an Orwellian Newspeak conception of democracy – “anti-democracy is democracy” – entirely to suit the interests of the middle class which Labour now represents.
Sorry mate, I’m no elite, nor middle class. And it’s my job that is on the line. All talks of “taking back control” will be meaningless to me if I’m on the dole at Christmas.
Precisely. The costs of vapid delusion.
The Lexiteer who backs the massively elite Brexiteers (led by a spoiled elite brat of a Bullingdon Boy) with their hedge funds and allegiance to US big money – calling the kettle black!
A class warrior and tribune of the ‘working class’ ? I think not (working class Tory voters are still Tory). More a tool of the elite propagandists and their media.
A General Strike would work.
They can’t imprison 6.35 million of us.
#WheresJoSwinson
At a dance,
South of France.
#WheresJoSwinson
Taking a break,
Sharm el Sheik.
MP’s get more time off than the pope’s c**k as it is ffs.
I’d hate to think what she’d be up to if the planet was getting overrun by extraterrestrials…
I thought Swinson was bad, but I never expected for her to be THAT bad!
Perhaps the holiday was booked in advance and, due to family commitments she wasn’t able, unwilling, to move it and didn’t foresee Johnson’s move… bad already, but can he excused up to a point. But the fact she takes a holiday AFTER the lies on Corbyn going on holiday during the ref campaign, lie that was propagated by an army of libdem supporters (and a good proportion of bots), and all the strong words about doing everything possible to prevent no deal brexit, that sends her to stratospheric levels of hypocrisy and lack of self awareness!!!
I’d be curious to find how well it goes down with the libdem membership.
Look on the bright side – it’s a problem for the LibDems who can’t be too happy with this display of incompetence.
Might you be missing the point here? – for the Bannon-inspired right wing their plan is to encourage the remoaner outpouring. The more there are (not that big) crowds of bleating placard wavers on tv the more those images encourage right-leaners to want to vote. The bigger the democratic ‘scandal’ the greater the polarising. Why would Swinson want to be part of that? Surely, she needs to keep the door open to another ConDem government? Hence, she’s on holiday and all the “oh isn’t it terrible” on here is naive.
“crowds of bleating placard wavers on tv the more those images encourage right-leaners to want to vote”
Yeh, yeh. Real democracy is such a pain! Much better a 37% minority vote on a scarcely to settle things in favour of of the extreme right and their supporters.
First, naivety, now missing the point – maybe best you give Sundays a miss for a while?
Not at all. I noted your disappearing act up the fundamental orifice of politics.
I will state that I am not in favour of what Johnson and HRH have done but if the prorogation could be overturned… then what? Back to a Parliament of rats in a sack not able to agree on how to Brexit for weeks on end? This Parliament is not fit for purpose as it has shown for last 3 years and I don’t see a new one even following a GE to be any different.
Who cares if Swinson is on holiday… what has she got to offer to the discussion that is new or positive?
“This Parliament is not fit for purpose”
The hard truth is that this parliament accurately reflects the state of the nation on Brexit – confused, and completely at sea.
They also reflect the nation’s general ignorance about what was involved in the first place – being suckered at two stages : (a) into agreeing a shambolic referendum – essentially about the Tory Party – without heed to the actual consequences and (b) pressing the button on Article 50 when they didn’t know whether it was shit, shave or breakfast time.
Ironically – truly representative.
Thank the wisdom of the first Bullingdon Boy and student of PPE for this magnificent gift to the nation.
I’m more and more convinced that the *only* way out of the consequent morass (not ‘perfect solution’ – it’s too late for that) is a further referendum, constructed with more thought. Yes – rattles will be thrown, but the children will get over it.
Oh no, let’s have best of three EURefs. How about we have second even third goes at GEs as well.
Don’t make me laugh that Parliament is representative of public, I expect much of the public is too busy getting through to day and week to have the luxury of discussing and navel gazing about Brexit/Remain, neither option offers them anything substantive to improve their lives under the current and looks like future regimes where the same or similar Parliament will block anything that makes radical change to the current systems.
I expect Cameron (and his back room advisors) was fully aware of the political chaos his EURef would produce. Poor UK ‘childlike, ignorant’ people need a strong authoritarian lead and rule. They just have no idea what is best for them.
People’s motivations for voting how they did/will in any future ref will be similar in some respects, different in others.
If lists of reasons expressed to date were drawn up and people were asked to mark their (say) 3 most important reasons in order by putting 1, 2 & 3 in the appropriate boxes of a pre-referendum survey we might learn something useful.
There might be ten or twenty boxes to choose from, it doesn’t matter.
Make certain the lists make the foreign press and the same kind of survey in other states might follow. The EU might also learn something from the reaction if it’s as I expect. Suspect. Hope anyway.
Working people have the same problems everywhere so there are bound to be echoes.
It’s a shame we don’t talk to each other more – especially now translation engines are improving. Might as well use the news value of brexit to spread the good word, surely?
“Don’t make me laugh that Parliament is representative of public”
There’s a whole debate to be had about that in the general sense. My only point is that on this issue, they are indeed reflecting the country’s confusion.
” I expect much of the public is too busy getting through to day and week to have the luxury of discussing and navel gazing about Brexit/Remain”
… which encapsulates one reason why an on-the-hoof referendum of massive complexity was a totally daft idea, and why representative democracy exists (which is not to suggest present perfection).
“neither option offers them anything substantive to improve their lives”
It’s not a sufficient condition – but avoiding economic suicide is a necessary one for a Labour government to create such improvement.
” Poor UK ‘childlike, ignorant’ people need a strong authoritarian lead and rule.”
I know that you wrote that ironically. But the frightening thing is the number of people celebrating the Liar in Chief on those very (admittedly illusory) grounds.
Maria, Camgammon fully expected remain would win and his problems with his party zealots would be over.
His red-faced humiliated resignation to spend more time in his shed ought to be enough proof of that.
“” Poor UK ‘childlike, ignorant’ people need a strong authoritarian lead and rule.”
I know that you wrote that ironically. But the frightening thing is the number of people celebrating the Liar in Chief on those very (admittedly illusory) grounds.”
I am sure many are supporting Johnson and I imagine some out of frustration with ongoing Parliamentary bickering that achieved zero but he has also fuel to Remainers argument.
Btw, nearly forgot to answer the quote, yes I was being a bit ‘ironic’ but Remainers have not been ironic shouting that for three years… leavers are stupid, uneducated, ignorant, racist, little Englanders easily duped and ‘led by the nose’ etc. implying Remianiers are the ones that are educated, wise and know best what everyone really wants.
I don’t see the point in getting drawn into Brexit/Remain arguments at this stage so wont be drawn into replying point by point. I will just mostly (try to) sit quietly and calmly watching the ‘crisis’ unfold and see where we end up. Less democracy is my bet.
On ‘what everyone really really wants’
A majority would probably pick the Spice Girls over Dylan.
The fact that Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize and the Spice Girls – weren’t – they’ll put down to ‘middle class boomers voting for their own’.
” …implying Remianers are the ones that are educated …”
Unfortunately, that is just an objective fact, even if you dispute the value of that ‘education’.
On balance, it’s probably a better asset than ignorance, if not an absolute guarantee of foresight.
Otherwise why would we want to improve access to education as a prime aspect of Labour policy?
The gift that just keeps giving
Ken Clark quoted as saying he has no problem with JC as leader of caretaker government and his preferred option is a sensible Brexit deal