2. Corbyn won't call it unless he's sure it will succeed ("when the time is right").
3. But Corbyn insists he must be PM. Not enough MPs will back that idea for VONC to succeed.
4. So it will never get called.
5. But that means the attempt to form a GNU will also not happen.
6. So we get a no deal Brexit. Hello darkness, my old friend...
If Corbyn changes the situation in step 3 by taking a pragmatic approach, all the rest could be different too. And we could have a happy outcome.
Under the current system the LOTO has to be the one to call a VONC. Nobody is disputing LOTO's Corbyn. He is super key to VONC!
But he won't call VONC if he can't win it & he can't win it if precondition is he'll be made PM. So he won't call it at all unless he changes his tune.
- Since a GNU can only be formed after a VONC
- VONC can only be called by Corbyn
- Corbyn will only call VONC if he can win it
- Not enough MPs will back VONC if that means pledging to make Corbyn PM
then only Corbyn can unblock the situation!
Until he does, he's the problem.
(Just to be clear: any MP can call a VONC. But parliamentary convention - for what it's worth - is that *only* the LOTO's VONC *must* be debated. So in practice Boris Johnson can and almost certainly will ignore anyone else's VONC, without breaking precedent.)
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For the first time, we could demote the Tories to third. Winning fewer seats than the LibDems would wipe them out as a political force.
Polls suggest this is within reach, but we need tactical voting to get us over the line.
1/12
Our choice is stark:
5 long years of the Tories in Opposition, pushing a hate-filled agenda of culture wars and immigrant-bashing.
Or the LibDems in Opposition, holding Labour to account on the issues that matter, with the Tories fuming, impotent, on the back benches.
2/12
If the Tories are in Opposition as the 2nd largest party, they get:
- 6 questions a week at PMQs
- Guaranteed coverage from media outlets with "due impartiality" requirements
- 17 Opposition Days to push their agenda and hold votes
- Almost £1 million in extra Short Money
1) Tories in Opposition. 5 years of endless culture wars & immigrant-bashing.
2) LibDems in Opposition. Tories powerless & voiceless on the back benches.
If the Tories are pushed into third, everything changes. Here's why:
1/12
Coming second would let the Tories rebuild as the official Opposition and continue to push their divisive hate-fuelled agenda.
But coming third should finish them. It might take time, but they'd be walking dead.
Second place brings substantial benefits:
2/12
Benefits of being the official Opposition:
- 6 questions at PMQs
- Guaranteed media coverage from outlets with "due impartiality" requirements, e.g. the BBC
- 17 Opposition Days to set the agenda and force votes
- Extra Short Money (nearly £1 million)
Tories in Opposition. 5 years of endless culture wars & immigrant-bashing.
OR
LibDems in Opposition. Tories powerless & voiceless on the back benches.
If the Tories are pushed into third, that changes everything. Here's why:
1/12
Coming second would let the Tories rebuild as the official Opposition and continue to push their divisive hate-fuelled agenda.
But coming third should finish them. It might take time, but they'd be walking dead.
Second place brings substantial benefits:
2/12
Benefits of being the official Opposition:
- 6 questions at PMQs
- Guaranteed media coverage from outlets with "due impartiality" requirements, e.g. the BBC
- 17 Opposition Days to set the agenda and force votes
- Extra Short Money (nearly £1 million)
Here's a significant new Tory scandal, a hit job on Keir Starmer which somehow contrived to draw in an indirect attack on Jewish faith.
(Long tweet. It is necessary to cover the scandal in full. Please expand to see the whole thing.)
They are attacking him for saying that he would "clock off work at 6pm if he became Prime Minister".
They also said "You deserve better than a part-time Prime Minister."
There are two big problems with this.
Problem number one: That's not what he said. The Tories are quoting selectively out of context, like a film poster which reads "spectacular effects" when the original review said "spectacular failure, with lacklustre effects".
It was only ever about Friday evenings, not every day.
Here's what Keir Starmer actually said:
-- transcript starts --
Keir Starmer: We have had a strategy in place and we will try and keep to it, and that it is to carve out really protected time for the kids. And so on a Friday - I have been doing this for years - I will not do a work-related thing after 6 o'clock - pretty well come-what-may.
Chris Evans: Regardless?
Keir Starmer: Yeh. Now there are a few exceptions but that's what we do. My son goes kick-boxing and so I often take him there. My daughter goes swimming and cheer-leading now, so I have been to see her in cheer-leading competitions.
Chris Evans: So you're going to ringfence that time?
Keir Starmer: Yeh. And I want to. One, because I am a dad and I love them. They're my pride and joy and I don't want to lose that time. Two, I don't believe in the theory that you are a better decision-maker if you don't allow yourself the space to be a dad and to have fun for your kids. Actually, it helps me. It takes me away from the pressure. It relaxes me. I think actually, it's not only want I want to do as a dad, it is better.
-- transcript ends --
SOURCE
Problem number two: There is also an essential and important faith element to the story.
Keir Starmer has been completely up front about carving out time on Friday evenings to participate in his wife and family's Shabbat dinners. This is something he has repeatedly talked about, for many years, for example in this Jewish Chronicle story of July 2023.
So the Tory attack was not only in bad faith (forgive the pun) but it could also be taken as a slight on Keir Starmer's family's choice of religious practices.
And yet it's not just the official Conservative Twitter account putting the boot in. (Tweet linked below, with screenshot in case they make it go away.) Individual Tory MPs are at it too.
Labour in Government. Tories in Opposition. 5 years of endless culture wars & immigrant-bashing.
Labour in Government, LibDems in Opposition. Tories powerless & voiceless on back benches.
If the Tories come third, it changes everything. Here's why:
1/12
Coming second would let the Tories rebuild as the official Opposition and continue to push their Hate agenda.
But coming third should finish them. It might take time, but they'd be walking dead.
Second place confers substantial benefits:
2/12
Official Opposition benefits:
- 6 questions at PMQs
- Guaranteed regular media coverage from the BBC and other outlets that have a "balance" requirement
- 17 Opposition Days to set agenda and hold votes
- Extra Short Money (almost £1 million)
And there's more: