Tag Archives: postponed

Theresa May shelves MPs’ constituency boundary review, to quell Tory rebellion

This, then, is the fact behind the Conservative Party’s boundary review, begun so many years ago under David Cameron.

It isn’t about cutting a wasteful 50 MPs who were sponging from the public purse – but we knew that from the Tories’ profligacy in stuffing the House of Lords with their yes-people.

It isn’t about making the number of voters in each constituency more equal – but we could tell that from the weird constituency boundaries proposed in the review, intended to make it easier for the Tories to win a majority of Parliamentary seats.

It is about the Tory leadership doing whatever it has to, in order to keep the loyalty of its MPs and candidates.

The plan to gerrymander electoral victories by creating a smaller number of Parliamentary seats that were more likely to be won by Conservatives seemed sound a few years ago, especially as the Conservatives were a minority government, propped up by the Liberal Democrats.

But times change. After the EU referendum, supporters of Brexit have realised that their seats are likely to be abolished – or they are likely to lose if seeking election in constituencies with the proposed new boundaries.

With Mrs May unlikely to get a majority for the proposals in the Commons, it seems likely that the boundary changes will be shelved indefinitely…

… proving very clearly that Conservatives have absolutely no interest in democracy. Their only interest is in keeping power for themselves.

An embattled Theresa May has postponed a Commons showdown on plans to slash the number of Parliamentary seats after Tory rebels looked set to defeat her.

As the Boundary Commission published its final proposals to cut Westminster’s constituencies from 650 to 600, it emerged that the Government has backed off moves to stage the key vote next month.

Cabinet Office Minister Chloe Smith revealed it could take months to draft the required Parliamentary order needed to enact the boundary changes. Number 10 also refused to commit to holding a vote before Christmas.

Labour swiftly said the PM was “running scared” of her backbenchers and should dump the plans because they were wrong in principle.

Source: Theresa May Shelves Plans To Slash Westminster Seats Amid Fears Of Tory Rebellion

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Major vote on controversial EU-US trade deal is postponed – why?

[Image: Touchstone blog]

[Image: Touchstone blog]

This blog reported yesterday on a European Parliament vote due to take place today, that could have removed the controversial ‘Investor-State Dispute Settlement’ – the power for corporations to sue governments – from the even more controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership plan between the EU and the US.

It is proof of the obsessively secretive way that negotiations over the TTIP have been carried out that – at the time yesterday’s piece was being written – the vote had already been postponed.

According to Unite the Union’s Touchstone blog, several explanations have been put forward. The official version – to reduce the number of amendments put forward from 116 – is dubious, as in fact most were likely to be taken off the table to allow the Parliament to discuss the heart of the matter – whether the controversial ISDS mechanism should be allowed to remain part of the deal.

No new date has been set for a future vote.

If it had gone ahead today (Wednesday, June 10) then it is likely the European Parliament would have demanded wholesale changes in the negotiating mandate – originally secret – that Trade Ministers in EU member states gave to the European Commission when the TTIP negotiations started in 2013.

Touchstone is optimistic about the latest development: “Delaying the vote will only make public opposition to TTIP and ISDS clearer and more influential. And if the vote is delayed until September (as some think it might), that would deal a fatal blow to the hopes expressed by world leaders at last weekend’s G7 summit for TTIP negotiations to be all but over by the end of 2015.

“It’s very difficult now to find MEPs willing to back ISDS outright, which is one reason why the controversy has moved on to Trade Commissioner Malmstrom’s ISDS-lite proposal. But we should be celebrating the extent of the opposition to ISDS itself. Eighteen months ago, unions and other civil society groups had to force the European Commission to consult about ISDS, and that consultation was initially only about what form of ISDS to propose. Now popular opposition to ISDS has been replicated among MEPs, and the smokescreen of a ‘diet-ISDS’ is being blown away.

“Whenever the eventual vote on the Parliament’s resolution on TTIP is taken, we need to redouble our efforts to get MEPs – especially in the Conservative Party – to vote against ISDS, as well as for the exclusion of public services like health and education and a ‘positive list’ approach to protect those public services; no reduction in regulatory protections; and binding and enforceable workers’ rights.”

This blog published a link to a site that shows which UK MEPs have already indicated they will support the amendment that rejects ISDS (Amendment 27), and provides a list of undecided MEPs with links to their twitter accounts so you can tweet them. If you are concerned about TTIP/ISDS, then you should still contact your MEPs.

If you don’t know the names of your MEPs, or don’t have a Twitter account, you may be better off looking up their names and contact details on the European Parliament’s website.

Vox Political will keep you updated on any developments – just as soon as it is possible to prise them out of those in the know.

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

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