The Data Death Ship for anti-Brexit team

ACCORDING to the Xmas issue of Private Eye both Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson had 'hard data telling them they would go down to an epic defeat if they gave prime minister Boris Johnson the election he craved.' 

What followed was what we now know to be a disaster.  

 Naomi Smith, cheif executive of the pro-European campaign group Best for Britain, commissioned a highly expensive 'multi-level poll' of British political attitudes. In June's Peterborough by-election it it prediction of Labour's vote share was only 0.6% off the actual result.  Private Eye claimed the Best for Britain researchers had considered what would happen if the Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage, had decided to help the Tories. In the 2017 general election, Ukip didn't stand in hundereds of constituencies with pro-Brexit MPs. 

Best for Britain took their findings to the Lib Dem's cheif executive Nick Harvey, and Rhiannon Leaman, Swin's cheif of staff.  They continued to disbelieve the figures until the 28th, October when they voted to overturn the provision of the Fixed Term Parliament Act and give Johnson his election. 

The Best for Britian then tried Labour's James Frith, Anne Turley and other Labour backbench MPs were more receptive.  They were, according to Private Eye, aware that many of their voters hated Corbyn.  Private Eye added:  'They also knew they were just a handful of Commons votes from securing a second Brexit referendum.'

But Corbyn ordered Labour MPs to back an election saying:  'This is a once in-a-generationh chance to build a country for the many, not the few.'  'Bring it on' cried his sidekick Laura   Pidcock.  Swinson,and Turvey lost their seats. and Johson won his predicted majority.

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Swinson would press the nuclear button!

This is a disgraceful response from @JoSwinson. Not for the 1st time in this general election, she confirms she's ready to press the nuclear button. Not even a moment's hesitation about the prospect of killing millions of people. We need better than this#ITVDebate #VoteOutNukes pic.twitter.com/W84cuLTuoy

— CND (@CNDuk) 19 November 2019

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THE Lib Democrat leader Jo Swinson has been heavily criticised by CND and others for saying that she would press the nuclear button if she became the next Prime Minister. During an interview with itvNEWS, she was asked:  "Would you ever be prepared to use a nuclear weapon?"  Without any hesitation, Swinson says "Yes." 

The female interviewer then replies:  "That was a brilliant short answer, thank you very much." 

She was then asked:   "Which world leader would you call first, if you became Prime Minister?" 

Swinson, replies:  "Jacinda Ardern".

Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister, opposes the use of nuclear weapons and supports nuclear disarmament.  Despite the serious consequences of nuclear war  and being capable of killing millions of people at a whim, Swinson still managed to keep a smile on her face.  Is this clueless numpty head, fit to be Prime Minister?

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BREXIT: The Lib Dem position!

 from Jo Swinson

IN the middle of this Brexit chaos, I want to be 100% clear about where we stand.

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has passed its first vote in the House of Commons, but make no mistake: this is not a done deal.

The United Kingdom is still in the European Union.

It’s with a heavy heart and immense disappointment that I say Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has only passed because of Corbyn's Labour party.

Many Labour MPs voted for this deal, and Corbyn’s weakness on Brexit has passed this deal.

We are now on the path to Brexit – all because Jeremy Corbyn is not a Remainer and his Labour MPs have bailed out Boris Johnson.

This is a difficult night for our country, and I want you to hear this from me and from the Liberal Democrats: you are not alone.

You have a strong team of Liberal Democrat MPs fighting your corner in Parliament.

We are standing strong for our future.

We are growing the movement for a People’s Vote.

We’re doing absolutely everything we can to stop Brexit.

The vote in Parliament tonight is the first in a long series of votes that Boris Johnson has to win - and it does not mean that we have left the EU.

There are many opportunities left to stop Brexit. 

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The Delegitimising of Jeremy Corbyn

by Les May

FIRST some figures. Amongst the Opposition parties Labour has 247 seats, the SNP 35, Independents 15, Liberal Democrats 14, Independent Group for Change 5, Plaid Cymru 4 and the Green Party 1.  In other words Labour has more than three times the rest of the Opposition parties combined and in particular it has 233 seats more than the Liberal Democrats.

So if there is a ‘no confidence’ vote in Parliament and the Johnson government loses its majority and is unable to secure a majority in a second vote within 14 days the outcome should be either an immediate general election or a cross party ‘caretaker’ government mandated to delay leaving the European Union without a deal, it would seem to be uncontestable that the leader of the caretaker administration should be Jeremy Corbyn.

Apparently not. Jo Swinson, who since July has been leader of the LibDems, has said he ‘risks jeopardising a vote of no confidence in the government by insisting he becomes caretaker PM’.  Previously she had said he was ‘divisive’.

Writing in the ‘i’ last week Kate Maltby, who on her website modestly describes herself as ‘a critic, columnist and scholar’ tried to cast doubt on Corbyn’s fitness to lead by claiming that some of his social media supporters were ‘anti-semitic’ and were linked to those opposed to vaccination of children. (As she provided zero evidence for these claims I do hope she is a little more assiduous in carrying out research for the PhD she tells us she is doing on her website.)

In mid August Caroline Lucas decided she would bypass Corbyn by offering to broker a deal for ten women MPs to form a cross party Cabinet. (Interestingly she was attacked in the Guardian because, amongst other things, none of them were ‘trans’ and most were not lesbians.)

Yesterday Yasmin Alibhai-Brown used her column in the ‘i’ to claim he was ‘worryingly beholden to his close, maniacally anti-capitalist advisers’ and that he should let Caroline Lucas lead a temporary government of national unity.

What these women are about is delegitimising Corbyn and, by inference, Labour’s claim to be the party to form a caretaker government.  Corbyn has been elected leader of the Labour party on two occasions.  He was leader of the party when it confounded the pundits by denying Theresa May a clear majority in 2017.   None of the four women referred to above can make anything approaching such a claim.

You cannot maintain credibility by first attacking Boris Johnson for avoiding scrutiny by closing down Parliament for five weeks and then seeking to find an excuse for bypassing the leader of the largest opposition party.  If Jo Swinson is listening, ‘You have 14 MPs, Corbyn has 247.  Go figure’.

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