Caroline Lucas is ridiculed for proposing an all-female national unity government to stop No Deal Brexit and hold a second referendum if Remainer plot to topple Boris Johnson succeeds
- Caroline Lucas has written to ten female MPs calling for an all-women Cabinet
- The Green Party MP proposes a cross-party female leadership team to deliver a new referendum after winning a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson
- She has invited the leaders of the SNP and the Liberal Democrats to join her
- She also invited a Tory, several Independents, and Welsh and Ulster MPs to join
Caroline Lucas has issued a dramatic call for an all-female Cabinet to take the reins of power, stop a no deal Brexit, and deliver a new referendum on EU membership.
Arguing that ‘women have shown they can bring a different perspective to crises’ the Green Party’s former leader credited female campaigners for initiating both the Northern Ireland peace process and the Paris climate agreement.
Ms Lucas’s call to arms was sent as a letter to leading politicians from Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, the SNP, and Plaid Cymru as well as Independent former members of the Tories and the UUP.
Writing in the Guardian, Ms Lucas offered to broker a deal with the female MPs, proposing that – if parliament passed a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s government – the women would form a temporary cabinet, existing only to propose a Brexit referendum likely to be posed between Remain and No Deal.
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has called for a cross-party, all-female Cabinet to take the reins of power after the House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson
Ms Lucas, who is understood to have begun talks with the women she has addressed in her open letter, sent the offer to Emily Thornberry (Lab), Jo Swinson (Lib Dem), Justine Greening (Con) and Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), as well as the Change UK MP Anna Soubry, the independent MP Heidi Allen, the SNP’s Kirsty Blackman, the independent Northern Irish MP Sylvia Hermon and Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts.
The final addressee is prominent Labour Remainer Yvette Cooper, the only woman to receive the letter not to have explicitly endorsed a second referendum.
Ms Lucas wrote: ‘It is hard to remember a moment in my lifetime when Britain faced a greater crisis.
‘A coup led by a small group of rightwing libertarians is all but complete, as the Vote Leave team has been reassembled and taken control of 10 Downing Street.
‘They are set upon implementing the most extreme no-deal version of Brexit – and, most terrifyingly, we are running out of time to stop them.’
Lucas argued a cabinet of cross-party women would be best placed to ‘work for reconciliation’ rather than fight new political battles.
She wrote: ‘Why women? Because I believe women have shown they can bring a different perspective to crises, are able to reach out to those they disagree with and cooperate to find solutions,’ she wrote.
Former Tory MPs Heidi Allen (left, now Independent) and Anna Soubry (right, now Change UK), were invited to join the all-female Cabinet along with the leaders of the Lib Dems and SNP
‘It was two women who began the Peace People movement during the worst of the troubles in Northern Ireland; it was two women who were key to the signing of the Paris agreement on climate; difficult, intractable problems have found the beginning of resolution thanks to the leadership of women.’
This afternoon a spokeswoman for Ms Lucas told MailOnline: ‘Unsurprisingly some of the MPs are abroad on holiday, but the response so far has been positive.’
The Guardian reported that Anna Soubry had ‘reservations’ but that Heidi Allen was on board.
Ms Soubry said: ‘While I agree that women can do things in a different way, if you’re trying to stop no-deal Brexit then the key thing is to bring people together, not to divide them on the basis of their gender.’
Ms Allen said: ‘We are facing the precipice of no deal so we have to shed old ways of working, and fast. Women are by nature less tribal, so I’m very willing to play my part and try.’
Caroline Lucas’s letter to ten MPs calling for an all-women Cabinet
Dear Colleagues
It is hard to remember a moment in my lifetime when Britain faced a greater crisis. A coup led by a small group of right-wing libertarians is all but complete, as the Vote Leave team has been re-assembled and taken control of 10 Downing St. They are set upon implementing the most extreme ‘No Deal’ version of Brexit – and, most terrifyingly, we are running out of time to stop them.
At times of national crises, political leaders need to bring a country together. But that is not happening. The government is hell-bent on creating more divisions, scapegoating our friends and neighbours, and ignoring the inequality and democratic deficit that fueled the Brexit vote.
We will only get through this crisis if we come together, from across the political spectrum, and set up an ’emergency cabinet’ – not to fight a Brexit war, but to work for reconciliation. And I believe this should a cabinet of women.
Why women? Because I believe women have shown they can bring a different perspective to crises, are able to reach out to those they disagree with and cooperate to find solutions. It was two women who began the Peace People movement during the worst of the troubles in Northern Ireland; it was two women who were key to the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate; difficult, intractable problems have found the beginning of resolution thanks to the leadership of women.
That is why I am reaching out to you, not so that a small group of us decide on Britain’s future, but so that we end the dangerous pursuit of a crash-out Brexit and find a way forward which allows the British people to decide which course to take.
It means denying Boris Johnson the reins of power with a no confidence vote, establishing a national unity government and then pressing the pause button in order to organize a confirmatory vote which offers people the choice of the status quo or pressing ahead with the latest government plan – whether that is a revised Withdrawal Agreement or, as seems more likely, a proposal to leave with no deal.
It also means a commitment that, as politicians, we accept the outcome of that fair, transparent and informed vote, even if it delivers a result we do not agree with.
I believe we can make this happen. I’m asking you to meet with me in the coming days, so together we can transform the conversation about Brexit. So together we can find a positive way forward, revitalize our democracy and stand up to this Government’s reckless gamble with Britain’s future.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Caroline Lucas MP
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