Theresa May walked out of the Commons tonight as Jeremy Corbyn waited until the last minute to revive his stunt vote of no confidence in her.
Mr Corbyn pulled a screeching U-turn to move his motion two hours after appearing to abandon it while claiming the threat alone had been enough to make the PM name a new date for the ‘meaningful vote’ on her Brexit deal.
His move is not a vote of no confidence in the Government as a whole meaning Mrs May can ignore it without allowing a debate or a vote on it.
But Labour hopes to build enough political pressure to embarrass her into it. A spokesman said: ‘It is clear that does not believe she retains the confidence of this House.’
The bizarre sequence of events began at around 3pm when Mr Corbyn said he would call for a vote if Mrs May did not reschedule the Brexit showdown she postponed last week.
Mrs May is expected to lose that vote by a landslide but confirmed today it would be held in the week beginning January 14.
Mr Corbyn did not issue his motion when he spoke at 3.45pm – and Labour launched a social media blitz claiming the threat alone had been enough to get a date.
Downing Street said it had made no difference and pointed out Mrs May said last week the vote would be held in the New Year and before January 21.
Despite earlier claiming victory, Mr Corbyn returned to the Commons at 5.50pm to table his motion anyway.
The SNP condemned Mr Corbyn for the ‘pathetic political cynicism’ and insisted he get on with calling a proper vote of no confidence – something only he has full power to do as Leader of the Opposition.
Theresa May (left listening to Mr Corbyn) walked out of the Commons tonight (right) as Jeremy Corbyn waited until the last minute to revive his stunt vote of no confidence in her
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured today in the Commons) abandoned an attempt to call a stunt vote of no confidence in Theresa May in less than an hour today
After the stunt collapsed, SNP MP Stewart McDonald said: ‘The idea that Corbyn has forced anything is, bluntly, trash talk’
Tory Greg Hands joined in the ridicule of Mr Corbyn, warning he had ‘I have no confidence in Labour’s ability to table a No Confidence motion’
After the first round of the stunt collapsed, SNP MP Stewart McDonald said: ‘The idea that Corbyn has forced anything is, bluntly, trash talk.
‘It’s a clumsy and risible attempt at trying to be seen to be doing something when in truth he is doing nothing more than fiddling while Rome burns.’
Neil Gray added: ‘Pathetic political cynicism trumps real opposition for Labour.’
Tory Greg Hands joined in the ridicule of Mr Corbyn, warning he had ‘I have no confidence in Labour’s ability to table a No Confidence motion’.
Despite the bizarre sequence of events, a Labour spokesman insisted Mrs May only announced a date ‘under threat of a motion of no confidence in her’.
No 10 confirmed Mrs May had made the decision to timetable the vote before Mr Corbyn’s team issued briefings about the stunt. Her statement was sent to him in the normal way at around 3pm.
Losing a vote declaring there is no confidence in Mrs May would be acutely embarrassing and would provoke calls for her to resign.
But crucially the motion Mr Corbyn considered would not be binding and would not start a 14-day countdown to an early election.
That can only happen if a formal vote of no confidence in the entire Government is tabled under the laws in the Fixed Term Parliaments Act.
Parliamentary rules suggest Mr Corbyn’s motion would not have forced the Government into allowing time for a debate or vote – meaning Mr Corbyn’s call could have just been ignored even if he had made it.
Mr Corbyn has been reluctant to move to a full vote of confidence until after the Prime Minister loses a showdown on the deal – to the frustration of the SNP and other opposition parties.
Labour sources let it be known that If Mrs May did not name a date, Mr Corbyn planned to tell MPs: ‘I will table a motion that this House has no confidence in the Prime Minister due to her failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote straight away on the withdrawal agreement and framework for the the future relationship between the UK and the EU.’
In the end, Mr Corbyn never delivered the lines.
A party spokesman said: ‘We will not let her cynically run down the clock to create the false choice between her botched deal and no deal.
‘It is disgraceful that a month has been wasted. We were due to vote on 11 December and there can be no further attempts to dodge accountability to Parliament.’
Labour cannot win a confidence motion without votes from the DUP or Brexiteer rebels – but it takes fewer than a dozen Government MPs to switch sides.
Mr Corbyn has no time left to bring his own votes this year meaning the Government would have to give explicit permission for this motion to be debated.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom is only obliged to make time for a full-blown confidence vote under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act.
The Labour leader will use his response to the PM’s statement to Parliament today to condemn the failure of Mrs May to hold her ‘meaningful vote’ on the deal
Mr Corbyn’s move already appeared to be falling flat this afternoon as his former leadership rival Owen Smith said there was no ‘point’ to it.
Mr Smith said: ‘Can’t see that there’s much point in a vote of no confidence in the PM – and not the Government
‘Are we saying we have got faith in Grayling, Hunt and the rest of them?
‘Government will simply ignore it – they can’t ignore a motion of no confidence in the Government.’
DUP sources told ITV they would not definitely vote the motion despite their opposition to the PM’s deal.
The source said: ‘We are not committing ourselves either way. We will see what the situation is closer to the time of the vote.’