By
Neil Findlay
There
is only one person who should get the sack this Christmas — and that’s Theresa
May. She might have survived the wrath of the grey suit brigade for now, but
she cannot escape the reality that is staring her in the face. Her leadership
is doomed and her deal is in flames.
Across
Scotland and Britain people are fed up of soundbites and stalling. May should
bring her deal to the House of Commons and let MPs vote on it. We have had
enough of these Tories running scared.
Do
not be fooled by the pantomime at Westminster surrounding whether May stays or
goes. The only thing that matters to ordinary working people is ensuring that,
whatever is agreed, their living standards rise, the cuts to services end and
jobs are protected.
If
May comes back from Brussels with anything other than a significantly altered
withdrawal agreement, then the Labour Party, many of her own MPs and all other
opposition parties will be voting it down. Even if she runs scared until
January, she cannot delay what looks like inevitable defeat.
In
that event, the next step for the country is obvious. A general election to rid
us of this Tory incompetence for good and the opportunity to elect a government
led by Jeremy Corbyn with a radical programme in the interests of the many.
Theresa
May might not want to fight another election after the battering her party
received in 2017, but Labour does. We are a government in waiting, not a lame
duck administration like the hollowed-out husk that is this zombie Conservative
party.
What
this sorry saga shows is that Jeremy Corbyn was right all along. Labour had a
clear plan to ensure a strong and collaborative future relationship with the EU
whilst protecting jobs. A plan that would deliver for every region and nation
of the UK. A plan that would have respected the result of the referendum while
recognising that no-one voted to make this country poorer. A plan that
recognises you cannot secure a deal without a working customs union
arrangement.
The
Tories’ only plan is to keep May in power and even that has failed. Theresa May
told us that her deal was the only deal available. Yet this week, in order to
survive the vengeance of her backbenchers, it looks like she has been telling
everyone from the DUP to the Tory hard right that she can change the state of
play on the backstop. That is not going to happen. The best she can get are
cosmetic changes, but that is not going to appease the likes of Sammy Wilson
and Jeffrey Donaldson.
When
she turns up in London empty-handed, I suspect a few Tory MPs who gave her
their confidence will regret their decision quite rapidly. That decision means
she is now immune from challenge by her Tory peers for another year.
If
that is the case and once this rotten deal is rejected, then there will be the
opportunity for a vote of no confidence. Timing is everything!
The
choice in that event will be clear. It’s the continuation of the coalition of
chaos between the right and the further right of the Tory Party or we can
return to the country and elect a Labour government that will deliver for
everyone regardless of how they voted, but we have to do it at the right time.
Do
not listen to the opportunists in the SNP who wanted to push a parliamentary
no-confidence vote not even 24 hours before the Prime Minister’s own party
sought to bring her down. They are only interested in their own agenda — and
socialism is not on it.
This
week, the First Minister suggested Labour was scared of pushing for a vote it
might not win. That is rich from a party that said in March 2017 it would hold
a second independence referendum in 2018 or 2019. I wonder why that never
happened.
If
this fiasco has taught us anything, it’s that trying to dissolve a 45-year-old
union is an absolute nightmare. Imagine then if the SNP got its way and we set
about dissolving a 300-year social, economic and political entity. The
consequences for working people would be disastrous.
This
from a party that has had numerous different positions on Brexit. One minute
they want to join the euro, the next they want the pound. Another minute they
want to be in EFTA, then it’s full EU membership or nothing.
The
country must have an alternative to Theresa May’s bumbling time in Downing
Street and Nicola Sturgeon’s opportunism. The opportunity to elect a Labour
government is one that cannot come soon enough. (IPA Service)
The writer is
a leader of Labour Party
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