Tory Remainers have ‘long shot’ opportunity to block Boris Johnson’s No Deal Brexit, says former Supreme Court judge
TORY Remainers can still block a No Deal Brexit, one of Britain’s top legal minds insists.
Ex-Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption said they would have to choose between the “long shots” of rushing through a law against it or toppling Boris Johnson and forming an interim Government.
He backed our story that the PM has the power to call an election for after the Halloween Brexit date if he loses a confidence vote so could force it through anyway.
He told the BBC: “There are really only two ways in which Parliament could stop a No Deal Brexit on that scenario.”
One option would be for MPs to pass an emergency law demanding the Government revoke Article 50 – meaning Britain no longer leaves the UK at all – unless a deal was agreed by a particular date.
The other would be that in the fortnight after a successful no confidence vote, an interim government is formed that would either ask for another extension from Brussels or hold a second referendum.
This would require an unlikely coalition involving anti No Deal Tory grandees like Dominic Grieve and Sir Nicholas Soames joining forces with long-standing Eurosceptic Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats.
Lord Sumption added: “Both of those look like very long shots to me in Parliamentary terms – but the Prime Minister has been so vigorous in offending anybody who thinks that a No-Deal Brexit might or should be avoided that the Parliamentary arithmetic might look very different when the Commons returns on September 3.
“The Prime Minister has been very much ‘in your face’ in saying that he is heading for No Deal.”
THE SUN SAYS
JUST listen to the rank hypocrisy of Remainer MPs, now aghast that Boris Johnson might force Brexit through even if he loses a no-confidence vote.
Constitutional experts reckon he would be within his rights to stay put and hold an election AFTER Brexit day.
Remainer saboteurs are outraged. Tory robot Dominic Grieve pops up from his luxurious French holiday home and, with a staggering lack of self-awareness, accuses No10 of “arrogance”.
But most of these same MPs got elected under false pretences, lying about respecting the referendum result.
They then used every dodgy Parliamentary trick, getting their pet Speaker Bercow to invent or bend rules, hoping to secure a second referendum. They have more chicanery lined up — yet have the gall to insist Boris plays by the rules.
Our PM has a majority of just one. But he has a 17.4million majority on his side. All power to him.
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