Corbyn as caretaker

Jeremy Corbyn restated today he is the only one eligible to become Leader of a Unity Government as he is the Leader of the Opposition.

He is not willing to stand aside for another Leader albeit for an interim period.

So it looks like a Unity Government can only be with Corbyn as Prime Minister.

Dinahmo, exactly. In other words, common sense. Rather than greed and theft from the alternative.

I wish. But selfishness prevails unfortunately.

Would he refund all the students with outstanding loans?

Sorry, but that sounds like pie in the sky and likely to lead to all sorts of resentment from the 20 somethings with existing debt.

The rebel Tories won't accept Corbyn as PM. They're needed to make up the numbers.

TBH although I don't fancy the idea of JC as PM I don't really know what the beef is - it's only an interim measure prior to a GE so why does it matter so much?

If Corbyn’s first concern was sorting out the brexit mess he should accept he isn’t trusted by many so why can he not stand down for an interim period

Dinahmo

Agree plenty to go on, here are a few more #GeneralElectionNow
✅ Green Industrial Revolution
✅ An end to austerity
✅ Save our NHS
✅ No more tuition fees
✅ 1 million new homes
✅ £10 minimum living wage
✅ Ending homelessness
✅ Ethical and moral foreign policy
✅ Immediate ban on fracking

I don't think people trust him, humptydumpty. The rebel Tories, LDs, SNP, Plaid and Greens want to repeal Article 50 or at least have a second referendum, if the only alternative is "no deal" (I think). Corbyn just wants a general election, which he's in danger of losing.

Corbyn says he can negotiate a better deal with the EU, but that's highly doubtful, so the question is whether he would take the UK out of the EU, because it's quite obvious that he's a Leaver at heart.

That's my understanding, anyway. Happy to be proved wrong.

Grany et al

That is Corbyn/Labour's General Election speech but what does he get through Parliament if he is Prime Minister of the so called Unity Government which will be time restrictive?

What will Corbyn do as an unelected Prime Minister with regard to EU/UK negotiations / revoking Article 50 / getting a Withdrawal Agreement past Parliament?

The parties who are prepared to join in a Unity Government do not agree with anything other than NO DEAL is not acceptable.

If they get No Deal what then?

Grany, Do you have any idea what Corbyn is suggesting for young people who already have student fee debts? Is he intending to refund them?

Grany Thanks for those extra objectives.

POGS Constitutionally JC is correct. He is the Leader of the official opposition and should be the one to form a new government. There is not enough time for a new leader of the LP to be chosen and, as Humptydumpty says it's only for the interim until the next GE.

Is there really a constitutional precedent? I don't think there is.

If it's really only for the interim, JC should stand aside for somebody who is trusted by the majority of MPs and then worry about a GE. I think some people think that he's unlikely to win a GE (and knows it) and will try to hang on to power regardless, if he's handed the keys to Number 10.

Dinahmo

'POGS Constitutionally JC is correct. He is the Leader of the official opposition and should be the one to form a new government.'
----

I said that up thread so no argument there.

What can Corbyn do as an interim Prime Minister when his position is not the same as the other parties who think a Unity Government is the solution?

What can they achieve to settle the problem of the EU/UK Withdrawal Agreement, Article 50, Referendum, Negotiations etc.

Anniebach Quote [ If Corbyn’s first concern was sorting out the brexit mess he should accept he isn’t trusted by many so why can he not stand down for an interim period] End Quote.

Corbyn should not and will not stand down because he is the elected leader of the Labour Party and in that still retains the largescale support of the grassroots membership and affiliate membership of the Labour Party and broader movement.

He is also the leader of the second-largest party in the House of Commons and therefore is formally recognised as the leader of Her Majesty's Opposition. Therefore if the current shambles of a government should lose a vote of no confidence in the coming weeks/days and is forced to resign, it will be Jeremy Corbyn that the Queen will call to the palace and ask to try and form a government.

It would be for him to recommend someone else to the Queen if he felt he could not bring a temporary government into being. However should he decide to attempt to form a minority temporary government, then that government would only be in place for the time it takes to request an extension of Article fifty from the European Union and then call a General Election.

In the above Corbyn would probably need no more than a very small cabinet for that minority government. Therefore he would require no more than himself as Prime Minister, a Home Secretary, a Defence Secretary and a Foreign Secretary all drawn from across the House of Commons if that was the demand

They would only be required to be in place for perhaps no more than two weeks, so the Civil Service could run all other aspects of government as caretakers while the two above sole policies of that temporary government are carried out.

It would be for MPs in Parliament to then decide if they wish to bring that government down as soon as it was formed, or allow it to carry out its two sole tasks?

Corbyn can be as ideological as he wants, but it won't get him anywhere.

Maybe he still has the support of LP members, but he's going to need a lot more votes than that to win an election. The fact is that he's perceived in a negative light by the majority of the population.

In recent polls, people still see Johnson as a better PM than Corbyn, despite the Conservative Party losing ground.

Corbyn needs to pragmatic and realistic for once. I've no doubt there have been meetings taking place behind closed doors over the last few days, but at the moment Corbyn just doesn't have the numbers to bring down the government and form an interim one. Rebels such as Grieve have stated very clearly that he wouldn't vote against his own party just to put Corbyn in charge.

Are you sure that the Queen will call anybody? I always thought that it was up to the hopeful PM to call on the monarch.

Grandad

No argument re Corbyn becoming Prime Minister in a U ity Government from me but I will ask again.

What can Corbyn do as an unelected interim Prime Minister when his position is not the same as the other parties who think a Unity Government is the solution?

What can they achieve to settle the problem of the EU/UK Withdrawal Agreement, Article 50, Referendum, Negotiations etc.

The only consensus between them is blocking No Deal.

Read this article if you want to know why Tory rebels, etc won't accept Corbyn as an interim PM:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/19/labour-may-stay-neutral-if-second-referendum-is-between-its-brexit-deal-or-remain

If you don't want to click the link, Corbyn refuses to remain or even give the public the chance to choose.

He wants people to accept his deal (if he can get one) or nothing. He supports Leave, which has been very obvious all along. With that position, he's highly unlikely to win any General Election.

growstuff, I believe (though I am not sure) that the Queen can call whoever she wishes to the palace and ask that person to try and form a government.

However, protocol has always been that the Queen calls the leader of the opposition to the palace in the face of a resignation of a government with that resigning Prime Minister not requesting a General Election.

In the above Corbyn may well decide to form a minority/temporary government whose only task(s) would be to secure an extension of Article fifty from the European Union and then resign and call a General Election. How the Labour Party would perform in that subsequent General Election, is a separate issue to the current crisis.

However, if Corbyn at the Queen's request forms a minority governs with just the above as it's two ambitions, it will then be for Parliament to decide if they wish to bring it down before it has had a chance to seek to achieve those ambitions.

However, those MPs had better think very carefully on bringing down that government and in that plunging this nation into the biggest constitutional and economic crisis it perhaps has ever faced.

I wonder how the electorate would judge the MPs and Political Parties that brought such circumstances upon them in any subsequent General Election.

and in that still retains the largescale support of the grassroots membership

Hmmm. That depends on what you see as 'grass roots' support. He has lost the working classes in most places north of London. He is controlled by a hard left made up of the wealthy Islington/North London set, academics in their ivory towers, middle classes needing left wing cred on their CVs, Marxists and those young people fancying a bit of student anarchy.

He lost grassroots, working class support years ago and seems disliked and not trusted even by traditional Labour voters.

In regard to your post @15:52 today, I feel that what happens in regard to the withdrawal agreement etc would be for debate in any forthcoming general election.

However, the immediate crisis is now surrounding whether the current government should be stopped from allowing Britain to crash out of the European Union on the 31st of March with No Deal. The forgoing has become especially prevalent in the light of the government documents regarding such a no-deal situation leaked to the press yesterday.

So, on return Parliament must decide if it wishes to bring down this government through a vote of no confidence and allow a minority temporary government to take action to avoid the above, or allow Boris Johnson to proceed with his current Brexit policy.

That's how I see it POGS.

Day6, I stated "large-scale support of the " membership" meaning Labour party and affiliate membership.

Those are entirely separate from Labour voters and an entirely separate debate from should Corbyn be heading a temporary government.

Grandad

That is commonly known as ' kicking the can down the road'.

A Unity Government is Corbyns way of getting what has always been his singular goal, a General Election. He is at odds with those who would be in ' his' government
except for blocking No Deal they do not agree as to the final outcome. It is proposed ' Disunity Party' who are falsely giving those who follow them into following a sham party.

There never has come forth the answer to the question what was in the Withdrawal Agreement Corbyn/Labour argued with.

I stated "large-scale support of the " membership" meaning Labour party and affiliate membership

You mean the card-carrying members who actually LIKE the present, hard left Labour Party?

I know of a few people, including my son, who have not renewed their membership, and quite a few £3 supporters who are not so enamoured with the party now, given the way it is divided and the anti-Semitic crisis.

They may be 'the grass roots', but they are deserted by Labour heartlands traditionally working class areas, and midland and northern towns and cities. They are abandoning Corbyn and Labour in huge numbers. Labour seem to be operating in a southern bubble, and as you can see from these and other boards, Corbyn is very unpopular.

POGS Quote [A Unity Government is Corbyn's way of getting what has always been his singular goal, a General Election] End Quote.

POGS, bringing about a General Election has been the singular goal of the whole Labour movement and that was set out as Brexit Policy by the Grassroots activists who attended last Septembers Labour Movement Delegate Conference.

That policy is now accepted by almost all MPs across this Parliament now, but what a pity it is that it was so derided when first brought forward last year, for had it not been this nation would not be in the crisis it faces now.

I can see why the Tory party did not want a General Election at that time following what happened in 2017. However, it was totally despicable that MPs within the parliamentary Labour Party would not support that policy following the conference.

Those totally aloof MPs very much took the view that what they saw as "low born grassroots leaflet pusher activist" should not be telling them what they should carry out as policy.

The above has created a huge divide between parliamentary party and the rank and file movement activists that could (in my humble opinion) bring about the "ditching" of the current Parliamentary Labour Party in the not too distant future and the launching of an entirely new political arm by the broader Labour movement in the country.

Anyway POGS, please excuse me for my rant, and where were we. Oh, the withdrawal Agreement should the Labour party be in power following a General Election.

Corbyn has stated that the Labour Party would attempt to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement should they be in government. That could also be in conjunction with the also stated grassroots policy of Britain remaining in a free trade and customs agreement should we leave the EU.

However, whatever the outcome of those negotiations (for better or worse) would be put before the British electorate for acceptance or rejection. However, a no-deal leave option would not be on the negotiating table or on any ballot form put before the electorate

Therefore as I see it, the electorate would be asked to accept any amended withdrawal agreement and leave the EU on those terms, or reject those terms and remain within the European Union on the same terms as now.

So POGS it could be stated that the Labour Party/movement Policy on Britains membership of the European Community will be set by the United Kingdom electorate in the above ballot.