THE SNP leadership has urged opposition parties to “ramp up” their efforts to collaborate to oust Boris Johnson from No 10 as its call for a no-confidence vote this week failed to get fulsome support.
Nicola Sturgeon reacted dismissively to one London commentator who suggested the Nationalists were playing into the Prime Minister’s hands with a push for a snap General Election.
The First Minister took to Twitter to say: “The condescension of elements of the Westminster commentariat knows no bounds at times. @theSNP is perfectly capable of thinking through the implications of various scenarios.”
The Nationalist appeal for cross-party co-operation came as Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, warned Tory colleagues and the former Conservative MPs, thrown out of the party for rebelling against their party leader on Brexit, that history would “never forgive” them if they did anything to put Jeremy Corbyn in Downing St.
Senior Tory sources told The Herald that the idea once in No 10 the Labour leader would stay for just a few weeks to secure a Brexit extension and a subsequent election was "for the birds". One MP said: "Once in, he'll try to stay for as long as possible."
Ahead of today’s meeting at Westminster of opposition leaders of the so-called Remain Alliance, Ian Blackford for the SNP warned that, every day Mr Johnson remained in office, the “threat of an extreme Tory Brexit grows, resulting in food shortages, reduced medicine supplies, and low-income families being disproportionately hit”.
The Nationalist leader in the Commons said: “With one month to go until the UK may crash out of the EU, I urge MPs from across the House of Commons to ramp up efforts and work together to get rid of Boris Johnson, secure an election and stop the threat of a disastrous no-deal Brexit.”
He went on: “Cross-party action is now imperative to ensure the letter to secure an extension is not left in the hands of an unelected Tory leader and his cronies, who are determined to ignore the law and find a way round the Benn Act.
“The SNP has led the way in ensuring Brexit can be stopped and in bringing parliament back into action after the Tories sought to shut down UK democracy and we will continue to work with all opposition MPs to stop the growing no-deal Brexit threat to Scotland’s economy, jobs, living standards and public services.”
Mr Blackford added: “It is time for the opposition parties to unite and show the leadership that has been severely lacking from the UK Government; as recent events have shown, we simply cannot afford to leave Scotland’s future in Boris Johnson’s hands.”
The Nationalist drive to secure a no-confidence vote in the PM and his Government has early as this week appears to have not gained traction among other opposition parties.
Angela Rayner, the Shadow Education Secretary, when asked about the prospect of such a move, replied: “We want to make sure that we get no-deal off the table before we do anything else and that’s the difficulty that we face currently.”
Meanwhile at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Mr Raab told delegates: "I say this as a passionate Brexiteer, there are some things even bigger than Brexit and keeping that lot out of Downing Street is one of them.
"So, to any of our colleagues - or former colleagues - who may just be tempted to put Jeremy Corbyn and that Momentum mob into No 10 as part of some temporary anti-Brexit coalition, I just say this: history would never forgive you."
The Cabinet minister also launched into the Liberal Democrats for wanting to cancel the referendum result.
“You can't call yourself a democrat put it in the name of your party and then try to cancel a referendum,” declared Mr Raab.
He added: "This Prime Minister is offering a better way forward. Let's get Brexit done, let's move on, let's unite behind our One Nation vision for the country and let's bring the Conservative family back together.
"We in the Conservative Party keep our promises. We're going to make a success of Brexit and we will free our country to reach its full potential."
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