Updated
Lib Dems blame Labour for bid to force a People’s Vote failing
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson in the House of Commons. Photograph: PA. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
The speaker has failed to select an amendment to the Queen's Speech which called for a People's Vote - with the Liberal Democrats blaming a lack of support from Labour.
Earlier in the day Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson wrote to Jeremy Corbyn urging Labour to support her party's amendment to the Queen's Speech which would ensure a second Brexit referendum.
She tweeted a copy of the letter, which said: "We now find ourselves with a prime minister with no majority, a Brexit plan that he cannot get through parliament and a Downing Street straining at the leash for a General Election. This situation is incredibly fluid, and the prime minister has already proved he is willing to do anything and everything in order to get the outcome that he wants.
"I believe we cannot afford to wait any longer if we are going to get a People's Vote in this parliament. There is an amendment down in my name, and the names of all Liberal Democrat MPs, to the Queen's speech today that seeks to require the government to take the latest Withdrawal Act back to the British public. I would urge you to support that amendment so that we can try and deliver the People's Vote that we need."
She added: "This week may present our last meaningful chance to get a People's Vote in this parliament, and I would ask that you support the calls of the hundreds of thousands of people who marched this weekend to demand a final say and back a People's Vote in parliament today."
You may also want to watch:
But speaker John Bercow did not select the amendment, with the Lib Dems blaming a lack of support from Labour.
Jane Dodds MP wrote: "First 19 Labour MPs vote for the deal (against the whip) and face no repercussion, now they won't back an amendment calling for a People's Vote."
Most Read
- 1 The deep roots of Labour's red wall decline
- 2 The Remainers' case for keeping the United Kingdom together
- 3 How Brexit has turned sour for the dairy industry
- 4 Dominic Cummings warns Boris Johnson against next stage of unlocking
- 5 What's next for Laurence Fox after London mayor fiasco?
- 6 Former Tory speaker admits voting Labour after labeling Boris Johnson a 'liar'
- 7 Labour needs more positivity, more patriotism, more policy... and less wokery
- 8 The slow death of Channel Islands Norman
- 9 Lawyers expose 'false claims' made by ministers over visa-free music tours of EU after Brexit
- 10 Watch Question Time for an insight into the minds of voters
Chuka Umunna tweeted: "Big shame Labour failed to back this. Had Jeremy Corbyn done so, we may have been able to have a People's Vote. If not now, when? Understand the challenge, though, when at least 19 Labour MPs won't back it."
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
