Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Corbyn Shouldn't Lead Interim Government
The Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that he will work to bring down the government of Boris Johnson to prevent a no-deal Brexit. He has said he would lead an interim government in advance of a Brexit-related general election. Since he doesn't command a majority of the House of Commons, this is problematic. Whoever topples Mr. Johnson will need to win a confidence vote within 14 days of the defeat of BoJo, and if that doesn't happen, there will be a general election. A no-deal Brexit would happen by default. Mr. Corbyn is cordially loathed by Tory rebels, Liberal Democrats, the Celtic nationalists and the Greens. If there is to be a caretaker government, someone other than Jeremy Corbyn will have to lead it.
In a letter to leaders of other parties, Mr. Corbyn wrote, "This government has no mandate for no deal, and the 2016 EU referendum provided no mandate for no deal. I therefore intend to table a vote of no confidence at the earliest opportunity when we can be confident of success.
"Following a successful vote of no confidence in the government, I would then, as leader of the opposition, seek the confidence of the House for a strictly time-limited temporary government with the aim of calling a general election, and securing the necessary extension of article 50 to do so."
This is not inherently a bad idea. There is now probably not enough time to hold a general election before the October 31 deadline for Brexit. Even if there is, there is certainly not time enough for a newly formed government to do much to prevent a no-deal Brexit. It is a no-deal Brexit that poses the greatest threat to Britain.
The question, of course, is how many Tory rebels (and some will be necessary) would vote to put Jeremy Corbyn in Number 10 if only for a month? One can easily see how that would be the end of a political career in the Conservative Party.
The newly elected leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, put it perfectly, "Jeremy Corbyn is not the person who is going to be able to build an even temporary majority in the House of Commons or this task -- I would expect there are people in his own party and indeed the necessary Conservative backbenchers who would be unwilling to support him. It is a nonsense."
Plaid Cymru and the Greens further stated that there should be a second referendum before a general election. And the Scottish National Party's Ian Blackford, who leads the SNP in Westminster, stated, "I am pleased to receive his letter today confirming that Labour will now work with the SNP and others collaboratively to stop the UK government -- but this means Labour needs to get off the fence on Brexit."
And that has been the problem all along. Labour was on both sides of the referendum, with the far left claiming the EU was nothing more than a capitalists' club -- a claim made ever since the UK voted to enter the EEC in 1975. Until that division is resolved, Labour's usefulness is heavily circumscribed.
If the point is to prevent a no-deal Brexit, the leader of any interim government cannot be someone who has dithered so badly over the main issues of Brexit. The leader should be a Liberal Democrat, a Remain Labourite or a Remain Tory. It might even enhance credibility to choose a PM from Plaid Cymru, as Wales voted leave, but PC has pretty clean hands in Westminster.
The UK is approaching disaster, and it is too late to prevent what is going to happen. Another extension of Article 50 would buy time, but what should be done in that time?
While it is politically unlikely, this journal supports defeating the Johnson government, installation of a caretaker government led by someone more credible than Mr. Corbyn, an extension of Article 50, a second referendum, and then a general election to implement the results of the second vote.
Of course, it would be better had Remain won the referendum in the first place.
© Copyright 2019 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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