JEREMY Corbyn was facing intense pressure last night to make a parliamentary bid to oust the Conservative
Government after Theresa May abandoned plans for a crunch vote on her Brexit deal today.
The Labour leader was urged to put down a motion of no confidence by the First Minister, 50 Labour parliamentarians as well as the LibDem leader Sir Vince Cable amid a day of high political drama.
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Nicola Sturgeon was among the first to call on the Labour leader to make his move – saying SNP MPs would support him if he did.
She tweeted: “So @jeremycorbyn – if Labour, as official opposition, lodges motion of no confidence in this incompetent Government tomorrow, @theSNP will support & we can then work together to give people the chance to stop Brexit in another vote. This shambles can’t go on – so how about it?”
A letter by Labour MP for Edinburgh South Ian Murray urging Corbyn to put down a no confidence motion and to press for a second EU referendum, was backed by 50 Labour parliamentarians.
Murray tweeted: “After the “farcical events by the Government, I have written with dozens of colleagues to ask Jeremy Corbyn to press a vote of no confidence this week and then go immediately for a @peoplesvote_uk.”
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LibDem leader Sir Vince Cable also joined the chorus of voices demanding the motion and a so-called People’s Vote on leaving the European Union.
“The Prime Minister’s authority has drained away. It is the duty of Jeremy Corbyn to call a vote of no confidence in the Government, which Liberal Democrats would support,” he said.
“After that Liberal Democrats will continue to press for a People’s Vote. MPs from all parties should join us in giving the people a final say, with the option to remain in the EU.”
However, the Labour leadership was reluctant to act at the moment with the party indicating it would wait until after the Brexit vote returns to the Commons.
The party suggested waiting until after the Prime Minister returned from Brussels to Parliament with essentially the same deal would increase the chances of her losing the vote. They said under this scenario more MPs, including Tories, could back the Labour motion which if it was passed could lead to a general election.
“We will put down a motion of no confidence when we judge it most likely to be successful,” said a Labour party spokesman. “It is clear to us that Theresa May will not renegotiate the deal when she goes to Brussels, and will only be asking for reassurances from EU leaders.
READ MORE: May's antics punish value of Sterling
“When she brings the same deal back to the House of Commons without significant changes, others across the House will be faced with that reality.
“At that point, she will have decisively and unquestionably lost the confidence of Parliament on the most important issue facing the country, and Parliament will be more likely to bring about the general election our country needs to end this damaging deadlock.”
May dramatically called off the crucial Commons vote on her Brexit plan, admitting that she would have lost by a “significant margin”. She will now travel to Europe over the coming days in the hope of securing new reassurances from fellow EU leaders to allay MPs’ concerns about proposed backstop arrangements for the Irish border.
In a statement to MPs, May also said the Government was stepping up preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit, despite saying that this would cause “significant economic damage to parts of our country”.
European Council president Donald Tusk announced that Brexit has been added to the agenda of a two-day EU summit in Brussels taking place on Thursday and Friday.
Tusk said: “We will not renegotiate the deal, including the backstop, but we are ready to discuss how to facilitate UK ratification. As time is running out, we will also discuss our preparedness for a no-deal scenario.”
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