This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/29/ex-labour-mp-gisela-stuart-urges-voters-to-back-boris-johnson
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Ex-Labour MP Gisela Stuart urges voters to back Boris Johnson | Ex-Labour MP Gisela Stuart urges voters to back Boris Johnson |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Vote Leave campaigner says longtime Labour supporters should ‘set allegiance aside’ | Vote Leave campaigner says longtime Labour supporters should ‘set allegiance aside’ |
| Former Labour MP and chair of the Vote Leave campaign Gisela Stuart has urged longtime Labour voters to “set party allegiance aside to get Brexit done” and support Boris Johnson on 12 December. | Former Labour MP and chair of the Vote Leave campaign Gisela Stuart has urged longtime Labour voters to “set party allegiance aside to get Brexit done” and support Boris Johnson on 12 December. |
| Stuart was appearing at a press conference in Westminster alongside her former Vote Leave colleagues Johnson and Michael Gove. | |
| She said Labour would not take Britain out of the EU and had deserted its moderate traditions. | She said Labour would not take Britain out of the EU and had deserted its moderate traditions. |
| “I say to these traditional Labour voters who three and a half years ago voted to leave, that we can bring the country back together again, and we can unite, but that is not by voting for Jeremy Corbyn,” she said. | “I say to these traditional Labour voters who three and a half years ago voted to leave, that we can bring the country back together again, and we can unite, but that is not by voting for Jeremy Corbyn,” she said. |
| Labour has promised to negotiate its own Brexit deal – which it would then put to a referendum. | Labour has promised to negotiate its own Brexit deal – which it would then put to a referendum. |
| But party insiders have acknowledged they face a tough battle to hang on to a string of heartland seats across the Midlands and the north of England. | But party insiders have acknowledged they face a tough battle to hang on to a string of heartland seats across the Midlands and the north of England. |
| Stuart, who once represented Birmingham Edgbaston, said she still considered herself to hold Labour values, but her old party had deserted her under Corbyn. | Stuart, who once represented Birmingham Edgbaston, said she still considered herself to hold Labour values, but her old party had deserted her under Corbyn. |
| “Whilst my values have not changed, the same cannot be said of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party,” she said, bemoaning the absence of what she called “the moderate, pragmatic and fair-minded politics that has been characteristic of Labour in all my political life”. | “Whilst my values have not changed, the same cannot be said of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party,” she said, bemoaning the absence of what she called “the moderate, pragmatic and fair-minded politics that has been characteristic of Labour in all my political life”. |
| “The Labour party of Tony Blair, John Smith and Gordon Brown has gone, at least for now,” she said, adding: “Voting for Brexit this time does not make me a Tory now, or in the future.” | “The Labour party of Tony Blair, John Smith and Gordon Brown has gone, at least for now,” she said, adding: “Voting for Brexit this time does not make me a Tory now, or in the future.” |
| As well as calling on voters to “get Brexit done”, Johnson used the press conference to promise a new, accelerated state aid regime to allow the government to support failing businesses more easily. | |
| In a press release published alongside the press conference, the Conservatives claimed the new state aid regime would be clearer, more “permissive” and faster. | In a press release published alongside the press conference, the Conservatives claimed the new state aid regime would be clearer, more “permissive” and faster. |
| Johnson also claimed “getting Brexit done” – the message he has hammered home relentlessly throughout the campaign – would allow Britain to charge zero VAT on tampons, change public procurement rules so that government contracts boost the local economy, and promote a “buy British” rule for public bodies. | Johnson also claimed “getting Brexit done” – the message he has hammered home relentlessly throughout the campaign – would allow Britain to charge zero VAT on tampons, change public procurement rules so that government contracts boost the local economy, and promote a “buy British” rule for public bodies. |
| The economist Jonathan Portes, of the thinktank UK in a Changing Europe, said these policies meant the Tory party had put forward “its most protectionist manifesto for a century”. | The economist Jonathan Portes, of the thinktank UK in a Changing Europe, said these policies meant the Tory party had put forward “its most protectionist manifesto for a century”. |