Putney MP avoids confirming she backed the Prime Minister as party leader
Putney MP Justine Greening has remained tight-lipped as to how she voted in the recent no confidence vote on the leadership of Theresa May of the Conservative party.
Inn interview with the Daily Mail, following the vote, she did not comment on whether she had backed the Prime Minster but she stated the country was in the same place as 24 hours previously, commenting that the challenge to the UK was the Brexit clock is 'still ticking'.
She called for the Prime Minister not to delay, but to "have the courage of her convictions, get on with bringing a deal before parliament, allow parliament to have its say."
She believes that neither the PM's deal or the Norway deal would get through and that parliament is grid locked and therefore the only way is to ask the people in a referendum, which she accepted would be 'unpalatable' to many people. She sees is as "a last resort for all of us, but I don't think we can keep kicking the can down the road".
Last week Ms Greening told the House of Commons she believes that both Leavers and Remainers in her constituency oppose Theresa May's proposed Brexit deal and therefore the only real alternative is to ‘ask the people’ about the issue. This July she became one of the first Tory MPs to endorse the idea of a 'People's Vote'.
She is claiming that arrangements for the vote could be put in place within 22 weeks which would mean a postponement of the projected date to leave the EU. Last week the European Court of Justice confirmed that the UK could revoke Article 50 and halt plans to leave the EU with no impact on the country’s membership.
“Here we’ve got just 26 pages, a proposed deal on leaving the European union is perhaps the ultimate national policy statement, yet we’ve virtually nothing, it’s the political equivalent of being asked to jump out of a plane without knowing if your parachute is there and attached, it’s like agreeing to move out of your house without knowing where you’re going to live next or not even having agreed the sales price but selling out and signing a contract anyway," said Ms Greening of Mrs May's deal.
The Prime Minister has previously ruled out the possibility of a second referendum and says that her deal is the only way to deliver the referendum result.
Ms Greening did not respond to a request to comment on her position regarding the confidence vote.
December 14, 2018