Blue-on-blue war as Johnson’s Parliament shutdown splits the Conservatives
A family at war: Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond were once cabinet colleagues – but now Dictator Johnson’s decision to shut down Parliament to stifle bids to stop his “no deal” Brexit has set Mr Hammond – and many other Conservatives – against him.
Senior Tories are splitting away from Boris Johnson and preparing to support moves to stop the “no deal” Brexit he is trying to achieve by closing down Parliament for five weeks.
This is hugely important as Mr Johnson has a working majority of just one MP. If all opposition MPs vote to stop him and Tory rebels help them, he cannot win a vote in Parliament and his plans will fall.
A significant number of Conservative MPs have said they are now prepared to back legislation to be brought by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the Commons next week.
This will be intended to stop “no deal” Brexit – and also to prevent the prorogation that Dictator Johnson tricked the Queen into approving on Wednesday.
Tory grandee Kenneth Clarke has said he is prepared to support Mr Corbyn as an interim prime minister:
Tory grandee Ken Clarke: I'd be prepared to back Jeremy Corbyn as caretaker PM https://t.co/3D7QoEQQKL
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 29, 2019
(This is a rebuke for Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, who said she was not prepared to support a vote of ‘no confidence’ in Boris Johnson’s government if it led to Mr Corbyn becoming PM. She suggested Mr Clarke as a possible “unity” choice, claiming to have spoken with him about it, but he later said he knew nothing about this. The message to her is clear: join the bid to stop Dictator Johnson now.)
Former Chancellor Philip Hammond is keen to stop BoJob.
Former Justice Secretary David Gauke has said his colleagues cannot afford to wait.
Former digital minister Margot James said she had been minded to give Mr Johnson time to negotiate with the EU, but this course of action had been undermined by his decision to prorogue Parliament for an extended period.
Former business minister Richard Harrington will vote with the Tory rebels, as will Jonathan Djanogly and Guto Bebb.
Elsewhere, former Tory prime minister John Major has announced that he will take part in legal action to stop Mr Johnson’s prorogation:
this is a major Major intervention, blue-on-blue open warfare pic.twitter.com/SwXIXi2cXT
— Jim Pickard 🐋 (@PickardJE) August 30, 2019
Some have suggested this is hypocritical, however, as he prorogue Parliament himself in 1997:
Irrelevant dinosaur John Major plans to join the legal action to stop Boris from proroguing Parliament.
Yes, John Major. The man who prorogued Parliament in 1997 to avoid the publication of an embarrassing report into the 'cash for questions' scandal involving his government…
— Leave.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) August 30, 2019
And Lord Young has quit as a Conservative whip in the House of Lords, saying he was “very unhappy at the timing and length of the prorogation, and its motivation”.
Source: Senior Tory rebels ready to back move against no-deal Brexit | Politics | The Guardian
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John Major IS an hypocrite. Most of our politicians are hypocrites. Is there any moral high ground left to be had?
Swinson joins Miller, Major and Watson in legal challenge
The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, is joining the High Court action by Gina Miller, together with John Major and Tom Watson.
https://twitter.com/joswinson/status/1167427093346639874
Popcorn time?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/30/sajid-javid-was-not-told-in-advance-of-advisers-sacking-by-cummings
Sonia Khan, Javid’s media adviser, was escorted from No 10 by a police officer after being accused of misleading Cummings over her contact with individuals close to the former chancellor Philip Hammond, who has been trying to block a no-deal Brexit.
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Khan was the second adviser working for Javid to be sacked by No 10, leading to suggestions that Javid is becoming increasingly isolated from the core of the Johnson regime.
Gustav Landauer (1900) justified a strategy of refusal in which individuals withdraw their cooperation from official institutions of the System. ‘Secessio plebis’ in the ancient Roman Republic at the beginning of the fifth century BCE is one of earlierst known examples. Plebeians in large numbers deserted Rome in protest three times and seceded to the Mons Sacer, which was already beyond the jurisdictions of the city. Secession was a form of insurrection against the patricians who forgot to fulfil their duties to meet plebeian needs. By self-organising into a political alliance the plebeians in exile invented themselves as a separate self-empowered power, as a self-constituted political force, capable of authonomous political action. Pressed with exodus of the plebeians, and to assure plebeian return to the city, the patricians agreed not only to fulfil their obligation but also to concede some of their power by creating the office of the Tribune of the Plebs. This office was the first example of government position held by the plebs (Lorey, 2008) in Ancient Rome.