Compare our party leaders: May blows with the wind while Corbyn stands firm

Last Updated: October 2, 2016By
Theresa May: ‘This marks the first stage in the UK becoming a sovereign and independent country again.’ It was never anything else; the claim relies on a misinterpretation of EU membership. [Image: Carl Court/Getty Images].

Theresa May: ‘This marks the first stage in the UK becoming a sovereign and independent country again.’ It was never anything else; the claim relies on a misinterpretation of EU membership. [Image: Carl Court/Getty Images].

So much for Theresa May.

Having claimed her government would not release details of its plan to leave the EU, she almost instantly backpedalled after being criticised by – of all people – ‘Thicky’ Nicky Morgan.

So now we know that she plans to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of March next year, nearly six months from now.

Amusingly, her bill to repeal the European Communities Act of 1972 will also enshrine all existing EU law into UK law. Quite the opposite of repeal, then (and surprising, in that EU laws have to be ratified by the UK Parliament before they come into effect here)!

The end of the ECJ’s jurisdiction is a formality; as the court only handles matters of EU law, it cannot have power over a nation that has left the Union.

Most telling is the fact that, once again, Mrs May has proved herself to be completely useless as a leader, willing to let even her backbench MPs tell her what to do.

Theresa May will formally begin the Brexit process by the end of March 2017, she has told the BBC.

The PM’s announcement on triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – which begins the formal negotiation process – means the UK looks set to leave the EU by the end of March 2019.

Mrs May also promised a bill to remove the European Communities Act 1972 from the statute book.

She said this would make the UK an “independent, sovereign nation”.

The repeal of the 1972 Act will not take effect until the UK leaves the EU under Article 50.

It will be contained in a “Great Repeal Bill”, promised in the next Queen’s Speech, which will also enshrine all existing EU law into British law.

This will allow the government to seek to amend or cancel any legislation once Brexit has been completed.

The repeal bill will also end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK.

Source: Brexit: PM to trigger Article 50 by end of March – BBC News

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner is congratulated by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after her speech at the party conference [Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images].

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner is congratulated by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after her speech at the party conference [Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images].

Meanwhile, in the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn is showing exactly how to be a strong leader – rejecting calls to move his allies out of shadow cabinet posts to make way for returning ‘ex’ rebels.

Amazingly, Labour MPs who quit the shadow cabinet in June, in an undemocratic attempt to force Mr Corbyn to quit as leader, thought they would be able to take key shadow cabinet positions from those who showed loyalty to their leader.

That isn’t going to happen.

In fact, if claims that Mr Corbyn will be able to fill all shadow cabinet posts by October 10, without having to offer any deals, are correct then it underlines the weakness of the ‘ex’ rebels’ position – MPs are returning to Mr Corbyn unconditionally as it is.

One can understand why Mr Corbyn is uninterested in having a shadow cabinet reflecting the whole spectrum of views in the Parliamentary Labour Party – he tried that last year and they stabbed him in the back.

Now – considering there are still some rumblings about another leadership challenge – he needs to ensure that his team will function properly.

Some might say Theresa May should have learned from Mr Corbyn’s experiences last year and put together a team she thought would support her.

Some might say that is what she has been trying to do. If so, she is in worse trouble than we all thought.

A deal on shadow cabinet elections will not be settled before November and Jeremy Corbyn insists that allies who filled major posts in July will not be moved whatever compromise is struck, according to sources close to the negotiations.

The Labour leader believes he will be in a position to have a fully functioning new shadow cabinet by the start of parliament on 10 October without needing to offer the parliamentary party a deal on the election of posts.

Corbyn’s praise in his Liverpool conference speech of those who came to his aid when more than 60 frontbenchers resigned this summer irritated former shadow cabinet ministers but has set the tone for behind-the-scenes talks on the make-up of the frontbench.

Those talks will continue on Monday, but there is no intention on the leader’s part to resolve the issue of shadow cabinet elections until an awayday for the party’s governing body in November, when further “democratisation” of the party will be discussed.

The development is a blow to those who hoped to return in a new shadow cabinet that reflected the political positions of the whole parliamentary party, and is an illustration of the weakness of the rebels following Corbyn’s victory.

Source: Jeremy Corbyn insists allies must stay in frontbench jobs | Politics | The Guardian

ADVERT




Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(
but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.


The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in eBook format here:

HWG eBook

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook

latest video

news via inbox

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

No Comments

  1. Pauly October 2, 2016 at 4:31 pm - Reply

    And yet May is more than sixty points ahead of Corbyn as far as popularity and competence are concerned when representative samples of the population are polled. Perhaps Jezza should stop standing still and start ducking and weaving a bit!

    • Mike Sivier October 2, 2016 at 4:37 pm - Reply

      That just shows how badly mistaken people can be, when they’re fed inaccurate information on a daily basis.

    • NMac October 3, 2016 at 9:43 am - Reply

      That’s because the right-wing media have been feeding the public months and months of relentless anti-Corbyn propaganda. Most of it just deliberate bare-faced lies or gross distortions of the facts.

  2. Darren Woodiwiss October 3, 2016 at 12:09 pm - Reply

    I had heard in the past that EU law does not get voted onto the statute book (Ratified) as there was an amendment that no longer required the queen to sign new laws and that it was automatically inferred.

    This allowed the establishment of a group that sorted through new laws and directed any to the house that they thought needed debating while the rest went straight to the statute book.

    • Mike Sivier October 3, 2016 at 9:39 pm - Reply

      Interesting!
      My understanding was the opposite.

  3. Wamda Lozinska October 4, 2016 at 3:30 am - Reply

    It would seem that the MPs who resigned from the front benches are trying to blackmail Corbyn by saying they’ll return if John McDonnell is sacked! No way!! He’s essential to the new way of handling the economy. Even the Tories now appear to be agreeing with him!

Leave A Comment