Candidates for three of Southport’s main political parties have written an open letter to the area’s Conservative MP demanding that he oppose Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament.
It follows a rally outside Southport Town Hall at the weekend which saw demonstrators from across the political divide gather in the rain and join forces to protest the proroguing process, which they say is being abused by the government.
Local parliamentary candidates from the Greens, Labour and Lib Dems joined around 80 protestors at the #StopTheCoup demo which was hastily arranged the night before, following urgent discussions between the three parties in the town after the decision by the Conservative Prime Minister.
Labour’s Liz Savage addressed the crowd first telling them that the issue was bigger even than Brexit itself:
“Make no mistake, this week has seen the greatest challenge to our parliamentary democracy during my lifetime. When Boris Johnson asked the Queen to prorogue parliament like this, he tore up the usual rules and conventions and instead is trying to trample through our hard fought for rights and traditions.”
“Parliament is this country’s sovereign decision-making body, not this extremist Tory government. It’s imperative that we do not allow this to happen.”
“This threat comes from a hardline Tory cabinet that is hell-bent on forcing through a disastrous No Deal Brexit at any cost… but, whether you voted for Leave or Remain, it doesn’t matter. “
“Some might have thought there wasn’t a bigger issue facing us than Brexit, well, it looks like we found it. This crosses party lines, which is why so many of us here now are from different shades of the political spectrum.”
The Liberal Democrat’s John Wright followed next, warning them:
“Let’s be clear what this is. This is a coup, a power-grab by the Executive over the Legislature in order to force its will on the British people. This is an unelected Prime Minister of a minority government, with no mandate to do what he is doing. It is a constitutional and political outrage.”
“The very soul of our democracy lies in Parliament’s ability to hold the government to account, and Johnson is wilfully and knowingly removing this fundamental tenet of our democracy.”
His pretence – and we know it is a pretence, because we heard it yesterday from the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace – that this is necessary in order to bring in a new Queen’s Speech is yet another lie from a man who has made a career out of lying.”
“He knows that his plans to force through a No Deal Brexit do not have the support of Parliament, do not have have the support of the majority of the British people. So his response is to silence those voices.”
From the rain-soaked steps of the town hall, Laurence Rankin of the Greens told those assembled:
“This is a straightforward issue for all the parties represented here to agree. It is a direct attack on democracy, and the basic human right to political representation.”
“Whatever our political views, or indeed even our views on the EU, we can all agree that Parliament must be allowed to express the views of the people—however much any particular Prime Minister might dislike it.”
“The same people who promised us an “easy deal” now want to throw all their promises away and step off the cliff to crash out. They have no mandate to do it.”
“Our democracy is not perfect, nor is our Parliament. I can understand the frustration felt by many. But we have some very nasty historical precedents for when a supposedly strong man presents easy solutions to the frustrations of democracy.”
Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson also addressed the crowd making clear that there would be widespread opposition in the House of Commons to the Prime Minister’s attempts to subvert parliamentary process in this manner. Further protests are also expected to follow.
Now the constituency’s parliamentary candidates have also issued the open letter calling on the Southport MP, who is an ardent backer of Boris Johnson, to “put his country before his party” and oppose his government’s plans.
The full text of the letter reads as follows:
Open letter and joint statement from Southport’s Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates:
Today, parties across the political spectrum came together in Southport to share a platform and speak out against Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament.
We are deeply concerned that his actions undermine some of the central tenets of British democracy. Elected representatives of the people must be heard, not silenced. Parliament is the sovereign body and must be allowed to hold our government to account.
This is not about whether you voted Leave or Remain. It is about protecting the hard-won freedoms on which our democracy is based.
Boris Johnson has shown himself to have little regard for parliamentary sovereignty – something claimed to be of paramount importance to the Leave campaign in the referendum of 2016.
In proroguing parliament in such a cavalier way, we believe Boris Johnson’s intention is to silence opposition to his plan to force through an extremist No Deal Brexit by any means whatsoever.
It sets an extremely worrying precedent; the issue today is his No Deal Brexit but what next? What is the next issue on which our Prime Minister will seek to shut down opposition voices? And what of future prime ministers?
We are united in expressing our deep concern that a No Deal Brexit, which Boris Johnson and ardent supporters like Southport’s Conservative MP are intent on, will be catastrophic for local constituents and the people of Britain as a whole.
We wholeheartedly condemn the support given by Southport’s MP for this government’s actions and for the No Deal Brexit they are so recklessly pursuing.
It threatens jobs and livelihoods; higher prices in the shops; lower standards in food production; shortages in a number of key sectors; a weakening of Britain’s security; loss of environmental protections, and the trashing of our international reputation. It threatens Southport, it threatens our country, and now, it threatens our democracy.
That is why we came together today; it is why we put aside traditional rivalries – and we urge everyone in Southport and beyond who cares about British democracy to stand together with us to help stop Boris Johnson’s attempted coup.
We call on Southport’s Conservative MP to put his country before his party and oppose this attack on our democracy.
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