Labour preparing draft Queen's Speech in expectation of snap general election

Emilio Casalicchio

Labour is putting together a draft Queen’s Speech of up to 35 bills in case the Government's chaos over Brexit triggers a snap election and propels the party into power.



Shadow Cabinet members have been asked to come forward with ideas at an away day on Monday that can stretch the course of a whole parliament, PoliticsHome understands.

Previously Labour had been preparing for just the first 100 days of a Jeremy Corbyn government, but the turmoil in the Conservative party over Brexit has spurred the opposition into action.

This week Theresa May won a knife-edge Commons vote on a Brexit amendment after threatening to turn the issue into a vote of confidence in her leadership.

Meanwhile, Tory backbenchers have been handing letters of no-confidence to Graham Brady - chair of the powerful 1922 Committee - with just 48 needed to trigger a leadership contest.

Labour - which has been pulling ahead in recent polls - has ramped up its planning to avoid being caught short with a short-term plan in the event Mr Corbyn is thrust into Number 10.

“We don’t want to repeat the mistake [Gordon] Brown made where he was only prepared for the first 100 days and then was faced with calls for an election,” a senior Labour source told the Guardian.

“We have to think much longer-term. But also we know we would be a new government that would come under attack like no other.”

'MILLIONS WOULD FLEE'

But Tory MP Nigel Evans told the Sun: “I’d love to see the agenda. They should be thrashing out their views on anti-Semitism and their disciplinary code.

"It really does give a backdrop as to what a Momentum-backed government would look like."

He added: "In their first 100 days they would obviously have to prepare for the run on the pound and rather than immigration controls they’d need to prepare emigration controls because of the millions of people who would try to flee the country.

“The one thing Corbyn would achieve in the first 100 days would be twinning the UK with Venezuela.”