U.K. Labour Hopeful Over Parliament Vote to Block a No-Deal Brexit

(Bloomberg) -- John McDonnell, treasury spokesman for the U.K.’s Labour Party, said he’s “increasingly confident” that there’s a cross-party majority in Parliament for legislation seeking to block a no-deal Brexit.

But he said people shouldn’t underestimate the difficulty of winning approval for measures within the “incredibly tight timetable” set by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks ahead of his Brexit deadline on Oct. 31.

Parliament will sit for two weeks starting Tuesday before being suspended until Oct. 14.

“The key thing is next week and whether we can get legislation or other measures through Parliament,” McDonnell said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “I’m increasingly confident.”

McDonnell earlier told an event in central London that Labour has been working with rival parties over the summer on “a range of proposals” to prevent a no-deal exit from the bloc and said they won’t reveal their hand “until the appropriate time.”

“I think we’ll be able to find a way which is effective,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult, but I’m hoping that with the commitment we’ve seen we will succeed.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the first legislative steps will be taken on Tuesday and a vote of no-confidence will follow “at the appropriate moment.”

“What we’re going to do is try to politically stop him on Tuesday with a parliamentary process in order to legislate to prevent a no-deal Brexit and also to try and prevent him shutting down Parliament during this utterly crucial period,” Corbyn told Sky News later on Thursday. “We believe we can do it, otherwise we wouldn’t be trying.”

McDonnell said the prime minister’s shock move on Wednesday to request a suspension of parliament, restricting time for Brexit to be debated, “exposed in Johnson a deep-seated arrogant sense of entitlement” and that Labour is ready to test the popularity of that at an election. “Bring it on,” he said.

Johnson’s pursuit of a no-deal Brexit is part of a wider “right-wing and reactionary” economic and political strategy, McDonnell said. That plan includes a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest, becoming a tax haven on the edge of continental Europe, and privatizing public services, he said.

“This is deep in the heart of their political project,” he said. “As people wake up to that they’re reacting against it.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Mark Williams

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.