PRIME Minister May survived a no confidence vote by 325 to 306 votes after a vitriolic attack on the opposition parties especially the Labour Party by Environment Secretary Gove.
After the vote May said that she would be discussing with other party leaders the way forward over Brexit, while Labour leader Corbyn said that there would be no discussions until ‘No Deal’ was taken off the table.
Labour leader Corbyn had opened the debate on the no confidence motion by calling May’s administration a ‘zombie government’ that ‘cannot govern’ and urged its resignation. He noted that the government on Tuesday night suffered the ‘largest defeat in the history of this democracy’.
Corbyn continued that while the Tory loss on the finance bill last week saw them lose ‘supply’, Tuesday’s defeat saw the government losing ‘confidence’. ‘By any convention of this House, by any precedence, loss of confidence and supply means they should do the right thing and resign.’
He added the prime minister ‘has lost control and the government has lost the ability to govern’. ‘This Frankenstein deal is now officially dead and the PM is trying to blame absolutely everybody else.’
Corbyn concluded ‘This government cannot govern and cannot command the support of parliament on the most important issue facing our country. ‘Every single previous prime minister in this situation would have resigned and called an election.
‘It is the duty of this House to pass the motion of no confidence so the people of this country can decide who their MPs are, who their government is and who will deal with the crucial issues facing the people of this country.’ PM May responding said that another general election is ‘simply not in the national interest’.
She said that parliament voted for a referendum, triggered Article 50 and that now ‘parliament must finish the job. ‘That’s what the British people expect of us,’ May added.
She continued there is ‘no guarantee’ that having an election would deliver a majority for any party, leaving the Commons locked in Brexit stalemate. Continuing her response to Corbyn, the PM tried to associate him with anti-Semitism.
She said ‘British Jewish families who have lived here for generations are asking themselves where they should go should he ever become prime minister. That is what has happened under his leadership. . .
‘What he’s done to his party is a national tragedy, what he would do to our country would be a national calamity.’ May concluded by claiming that she is ‘building a country that works for everyone’ and urged ‘Reject this motion’.
