Tag Archives: emergency government

Members must decide!

By Simon McGrath | Wed 28th August 2019 - 12:00 pm

Election pacts and participation in an Emergency Government need to be agreed by members.

As a No Deal Brexit and a possible General Election get nearer there has been much talk of how we Remainers can stop it. The focus at the moment is on legislation to stop it but there are two other areas said to be under discussion:

An emergency government to hold a referendum followed by a General Election
A ‘Remain alliance‘ so that in key seats Remain parties don’t stand against each other (though Alastair Carmichael has been reported as saying we would not stand down for the SNP).

I believe that it is really important that we don’t abandon one of the fundamental principles of our Party – the primacy of members in taking key decisions

If we participate in an emergency Government then our Constitution is very clear about what needs to happen. Section 23 says that support for a government which contains other political parties applies

where the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons (‘the Commons Party’) enters into negotiations with one or more other political parties with a view to the formation of a government supported by the party and such party or parties;

There are various provisions about consultations etc but the key point is that any agreement would have to be approved by a 2/3rd vote at either a regular or special Conference.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged electoral pacts, no deal brexit, party policy, remain alliance and snap general election | 11 Comments

A no deal Brexit is irreversible, a Jeremy Corbyn government is not

By Chris Key | Thu 15th August 2019 - 1:56 pm

As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time in Latin America, I am extremely worried about the prospect of a Jeremy Corbyn lead Labour government in the long term. From the corruption, poverty and rising crime, in Argentina under the previous hard left government, to the decay in Venezuela where people are having to buy rotten meet in the markets to survive and where medicines have run out in many hospitals, it is clear that what damage a hard left government can do.

I am also angry about what has become of our country in the five years since I came back to the UK. I have suffered myself from the consequences of austerity when I had to pay £4,000 for mental health treatment in 2014. Millions of others would not have been able to dig into savings to do this.

Like many parents I now have to pay money to my children’s school to keep it afloat financially. My local Council, Richmond, has seen its central government grant slashed and is desperately under-funded when it comes to special needs education. Children’s services are at crisis point and adult social care still has a gaping black hole in its finances. On a personal level, I have seen the damage that Brexit is doing to people’s lives. Friends have had to relocate abroad because of Brexit. Someone I know was beaten up by yobs in 2016 and told to “eff off” back to France – he could not work for two weeks. With Boris Johnson once again using war like language about pro-Remain MPs yesterday, I am truly ashamed of the image our country has when I travel around the world on business.

There is so much to do to make life better for millions of people. However as of today, the most important priority for our country has to be stopping a no-deal Brexit. Like it or not, the only person with the democratic mandate to take over a caretaker government is Jeremy Corbyn.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged brexit and jeremy corbyn | 26 Comments