Grieve threatens to bring down govt to stop no-deal

LONDON: A Conservative former Cabinet minister has threatened to bring down his own government if the next prime minister tries to force a no-deal Brexit against the wishes of MPs.Dominic Grieve, the ex-attorney general, said he would be willing to back a vote of no confidence in his own side, and risk having his party membership revoked rather than allow the UK to drop out of the European Union with no agreement in place.Speaking during a debate on Labour’s motion to allow Parliamentary time to try and block a no-deal scenario, he told the Commons: “If we get to a point where a prime minister is intent on doing this, the only way of stopping that prime minister would be to bring down that prime minister’s government.“And I simply have to say here and now, I will not hesitate to do that if that is what is attempted. Even if it means my resigning the whip and leaving the party, I will not allow this country to be taken out of the EU on a no-deal Brexit without the approval of this House, and in my view going back to the country and asking them if that is what they want.”Grieve said he was elected to serve his constituents’ interests, adding that “no deal is not in their interests and nor is there the smallest shred of evidence that there is some majority for this chaotic and appalling proposal”. He attacked the Tory leadership hopefuls who said it must remain an option, saying it was “all part of a process of further deceit which is slowly swallowing up the democracy of this country and the reputation of this House”.The MP for Beaconsfield said he did not agree with Jeremy Corbyn on most things, but was backing the cross-party motion in the Labour leader’s name as it was “the only opportunity we’ve got”. He finished by saying: “And I’m not going to spend my time talking to children or grandchildren later on, and say when it came to it I decided to give up. I won’t do that.” Ex-minister Richard Harrington hinted he would be willing to back the motion as well, unless the government could give him assurances that they would rule out proroguing Parliament, as well as guaranteeing the ability for MPs to vote on allowing no deal to happen or not.

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