Sturgeon Believes Confidence Motion Against UK Gov't May Succeed If Triggered By Labour

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2018) Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, said Sunday that a confidence motion against the government could succeed if it is raised by the Labour Party.

"We think Labour should table a confidence motion. And I said last week if it does so, the SNP [the Scottish National Party] would support that. I think it is possible that a confidence motion right now could succeed. This is a government that is weak and unstable and becoming more weak and unstable with every day that passes," Sturgeon told Sky news.

According to Sturgeon, even if the vote failed, it would "help clarify Labour's position."

"Labour's position right now is it won't back a second EU referendum until it has tried and failed to trigger a general election, but if it won't try to trigger a general election then we're in this catch-22 position. It seems to me right now that Labour is as much of a barrier to making progress on Brexit as the Tories are," the politician added.

On Monday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she was delaying the vote on the Brexit deal in the House of Commons, originally slated for Tuesday, amid lawmakers' concerns over the Irish border backstop.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the main UK opposition party, Labour, said the UK government was in disarray and out of control after May said she was delaying the vote on the Brexit deal.

On Tuesday, several opposition parties told the Labour in a letter that they would back the official opposition should they bring forward a motion of no confidence in the government. On Wednesday, May survived a no-confidence vote called by members of her own Conservative Party � 200 parliamentarians backed May while 117 lawmakers voted against her.

The Brexit deal was agreed by May's team and EU negotiators in late November after months of negotiations that saw many suggesting a no-deal Brexit would be a possibility.

However, lawmakers from the Labour and other parties, including Tories, have opposed the deal. The UK politicians have been specifically criticizing the provisions on the Northern Irish backstop which stipulate that Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom as a whole will remain inside an EU-UK single customs area in order to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.