UK Conservatives Unlikely To Back Opposition Against Johnson - European Parliament Member

UK Conservative lawmakers are unlikely to back Labour in a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Boris Johnson even if some of them are opposed to his policy on Brexit, Jonathan Bullock, a member of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom, told Sputnik

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2019) UK Conservative lawmakers are unlikely to back Labour in a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Boris Johnson even if some of them are opposed to his policy on Brexit, Jonathan Bullock, a member of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom, told Sputnik.

On Wednesday, Labour called on Conservative lawmakers to back the opposition in blocking a no-deal Brexit. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said in a letter to opposition parties and several Conservative lawmakers that he would trigger a no-confidence vote in Johnson. Corbyn suggested that his "strictly time-limited temporary government" would hold a general election.

"This is ludicrous. There are indeed still many Conservative [members of parliament] MPs who don't want to quit the European Union, but they hate Labour, especially under Leftist Jeremy Corbyn even more than they distrust Boris Johnson. So, there is very little chance that Corbyn will get any of them to vote for his ridiculous proposal," Bullock said.

The member of the Brexit Party pointed out that Corbyn did not seem to have enough support from the opposition parties.

The leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, said she would work with anyone to stop Brexit, but the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, suggested that someone other than Corbyn should head a temporary government.

"The initial response from the other opposition parties shows anyway that Mr Corbyn doesn't have the numbers to get his plan through. Many MPs would like to stop a no-deal Brexit but getting them to agree on how to do it that's a different matter altogether," Bullock said.

Johnson, who assumed office in July, has stressed that he would try to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement to get rid of the backstop clause, but if that did not happen the United Kingdom would still leave on the agreed deadline of October 31 even without a deal. Meanwhile, the European Union has repeatedly said it would not reopen talks on the withdrawal deal agreed with Johnson's predecessor Theresa May, who left after failing several times to push the agreement through the UK parliament.