Stop The Coup!

Sometimes you have to act quickly in politics and last week I helped put together a #StopTheCoup protest in town.As the new chair of Reading and District Labour party I had a great executive committee to help me out plus frineds in Reading Trade Union Council.

Well over 300 people turned up and we had speakers from across the political spectrum.  Here is my speech:

"We are all here today for the same purpose, and that is to defend democracy. The prorogation of parliament is an outrage and threat to our democracy.
 

Some of our elected representatives, our MPs, are being denied their right to represent us and some don’t believe we need representing at all and are backing the shut down of parliament.

Boris Johnson's plot to shut Parliament down just days after MPs return to work - and only a few weeks before the Brexit deadline - is totally irresponsible and shows a cynical disregard for democracy and accountability.

The press reported today that he was secretly planning to suspend parliament in mid-August – two weeks before denying the plan existed. It is clear our prime minister cannot be trusted.

Parliament is where the people are represented; and by his actions, Johnson has shown how little he cares about the concerns of millions of people on both sides of the Brexit debate:

Why is he trying to force through a damaging No Deal Brexit?

Does this demonstrate his desire to do the best for us or himself?

Reading and District Labour Party condemns this attack on the people and welcomes Jeremy Corbyn's decision to call a vote of no confidence in Johnson's undemocratic, arrogant, unelected government.

In a joint statement from The Labour Party, Scottish National Party (SNP), Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, The Independent Group for Change and Green Party we say:

We condemn the undemocratic actions of Boris Johnson following his suspension of parliament until October 14th.

There is no mandate from the public for a damaging No Deal Brexit. The Prime Minister is shutting down Parliament with the sole aim of stopping MPs from avoiding a No Deal Brexit.
This will be the longest prorogation in recent history, and one that comes at a critical moment in the history of our respective nations and the Brexit process.

Voters are being deprived of the opportunity to have their representatives hold the Government to account, make any key decisions, and ensure that there is a lawful basis for any action that is taken.
It is our view that there is a majority in the House of Commons that does not support this prorogation, and we demand that the Prime Minister reverses this decision immediately or allows MPs to vote on whether there should be one.

What do we want MP’s to do?

Stop The Coup!"

The wonderful flash mob that started the protest.