There haven’t been that many days of such high drama in Parliament to compare to the next few. How badly will Theresa May lose in the Commons? Will it be enough to force a change of policy? Can the Conservative Party cling together?
We’ll see soon enough but, in the meantime, here are the weekend’s press releases…
- Grayling has lost the plot
- Short-term sentences of 12 months or less must be scrapped now
- Corbyn has failed the test of leadership
- Cable: No-deal is a choice and the Govt can stop it
Grayling has lost the plot
Responding to claims from Chris Grayling that blocking Brexit could lead to a rise in neo-Nazi extremist groups, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:
Chris Grayling has lost the plot. This kind of scaremongering is not only dangerous, but it is embarrassing.
Politicians should be focused on healing the divisions in our country, not shamefully stoking the fire in order to secure support for Theresa May’s botched deal.
This Conservative Government has lost all moral authority. It is time to take back control of this Brexit process and give the people a final say on the deal, including the option to remain in the EU.
Short-term sentences of 12 months or less must be scrapped now
Responding to the Prisons Minister’s comments that jail sentences of six months or less should be scrapped, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperon Ed Davey said:
Short-term sentences perpetuate the crisis in our overcrowded prisons, cost millions and don’t work to prevent crime. Robust community-based sentences are far more successful in reducing reoffending and the chance of more people becoming victims of crime.
Indications from the Prison Minister that he agrees is testament to the campaigners who have long made this case. However, the Prison Minister does not go far enough. Liberal Democrats demand better.
Our goal must be to transform prisons into places of rehabilitation and recovery, to cut re-offending and make our communities safer. That means urgent action now to scrap prison sentences of 12 months or less, not just six months or less.
Corbyn has failed the test of leadership
Responding to Jeremy Corbyn’s interview on the Andrew Marr Show, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:
Jeremy Corbyn is still trying to be all things to all people by refusing to declare unambiguously whether he will back a People’s Vote and stop this inevitable Brexit mess. It is cheap and won’t work.
48 hours from the biggest crisis the UK has faced since WW2, the country required leadership from the Leader of the Opposition. Corbyn has sat on the fence and failed that test.
Liberal Democrats are instead listening to people’s concerns and leading the fight to give them the option to remain in the EU with a People’s Vote.
Cable: No-deal is a choice and the Govt can stop it
The Prime Minister is expected to say in a speech tomorrow that voting down her deal will undermine democracy and be catastrophic for the country. Responding, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable said:
The increasingly desperate language from the Prime Minister more than suggests a great deal of panic. But she cannot be allowed to pull the wool over the public’s eyes. A chaotic no-deal Brexit is a choice and it is in the gift of the Government to prevent it.
The Prime Minister must end the scaremongering and the uncertainty of a no-deal. If not, Liberal Democrats will use every tool at our disposal to ensure Parliament does.
No matter the Brexit, any Brexit will be bad for jobs, the NHS and reduce our standing in the world. The best way to avoid that national embarassment is with a People’s Vote, including the option to remain in the EU.
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2 Comments
Corbyn has failed the test of leadership….Tom Brake said:”Jeremy Corbyn is still trying to be all things to all people by refusing to declare unambiguously whether he will back a People’s Vote and stop this inevitable Brexit mess. It is cheap and won’t work…..48 hours from the biggest crisis the UK has faced since WW2, the country required leadership from the Leader of the Opposition. Corbyn has sat on the fence and failed that test………………………
48 hours in which May is touring the UK and No.10 is pressurising everyone to support her deal…
She is starting off with Stoke-on Trent (a new Tory seat with a 75% Leave vote). Had Corbyn ‘come off your fence’ and said either ‘Remain’ or ‘New Referendum’ Theresa May’s anthem (and shouted by the media) in all such areas would be ” Corbyn ignores your/the referendum vote and betrays the 17 million.”
Corbyn has said what he’ll do; just because it isn’t our strategy doesn’t make it a ‘betrayal’..
1) Vote against May’s deal (so much for ‘cosying up to the Tories’ )
2) If/when May’s deal, and her imaginary plan ‘b’, fails to call a vote of no confidence.
3) In the unlikely event of winning such a vote (turkeys, especially Tory ones, don’t vote for Christmas) call for a GE. If, as is likely, such a vote failed then, in his own words when asked whether Labour would push for a second referendum if there was no general election, Corbyn said: “We’re then into that consideration at that point.”
Why throw May a lifeline at the11th hour?
@ expats,
The only explanation that I can think of, is that it is more important to say something that makes the Liberal Democrat seem relevant than be absolutely committed to a strategy that is most likely to keeps the UK in the EU or as close to the EU as possible.
Does Mr Brake know the fairly recent political history of Stoke on Trent and the need to offer something more than extreme right wing snake oil to the people there?
I despair, I despair. It seems like one foot forward, two steps back .