The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s main opposition parties squabbled on Tuesday over the best way to get rid of Theresa May and her unpopular Brexit deal as she toured Europe to try and salvage it.
May’s government was under pressure a day after the prime minister postponed a historic vote in parliament over her EU withdrawal agreement because of its certain defeat.
But the main opposition Labour Party says it will only submit a no-confidence motion for a vote when it is certain of victory.
“We need to do the appropriate thing at the appropriate time to have a motion of no-confidence in order to get rid of this government,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said.
A win for the no-confidence camp could lead to early elections and put Labour in power for the first time since 2010.
But Labour’s smaller allies in the Scottish National Party (SNP) want Corbyn to seek a no-confidence vote now.
The SNP has said it wants the government to hold a second Brexit referendum that could reverse the outcome of the first one in 2016 and keep Britain in the EU.
Corbyn says he will support a new Brexit vote only as a last resort — and only if and when his motion of no-confidence fails.
This has visibly frustrated the SNP.
“For goodness sake, if the time is not right now, when will the time be right?” SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon asked on BBC radio.
– Rules and conventions –
The SNP’s parliamentary leader Ian Blackford told reporters that his party may be forced to try and trigger one on its own if Corbyn continues to stall.
“We cannot delay. If Jeremy cannot accept that responsibility then I am afraid the rest of us will have to accept that responsibility,” Blackford told reporters.
“We will have a conversation with Jeremy this afternoon. I think that Jeremy has to do that by the end of business” on Tuesday.
SNP and Labour would still need to peel off some members of May’s own party for their no-confidence motion to succeed.
The tiny Northern Irish DUP party that has propped up the government for more than a year has promised to back May in case of such a vote.
And it is far from clear whether the SNP’s attempts to table a no-confidence motion on its own would get anywhere.
Britain has no constitution and its parliament is governed by conventions instead of firm rules.
One of those says that a no-confidence motion tabled by the main opposition — in this case Labour — would get preferential treatment and probably be selected.
But Commons speaker John Bercow has suggested that one submitted by the SNP on its own might simply get tossed aside.
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© Agence France-Press
