Public confidence in the Prime Minister
The petition of Residents of the United Kingdom,
Declares that the Prime Minister repeatedly promised that the UK would leave the European Union on 29 March 2019 and that the only way to prevent that happening without a deal was for our Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement to be approved by Parliament; further notes that despite her Withdrawal Agreement having been rejected by the House of Commons on three separate occasions, the Prime Minister intervened personally to prevent UK leaving the EU on 29 March 2019, further intervened to prevent the UK leaving the EU on 12 April 2019 and has now agreed with the EU without the prior approval of her Cabinet or Parliament that the UK cannot leave the EU before 31 October 2019 without a deal notwithstanding having incurred expenditure in excess of £4 billion for that purpose and the Prime Minister having repeatedly stated to UK citizens that in her view no deal is better than a bad deal; further expresses its dismay that the Prime Minister has also conceded that the UK is not allowed to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement or open negotiations on a future relationship with the EU prior to 31 October 2019 thereby going back on her guarantee that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed; and further as a result that they have no confidence in the Prime Minister.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons hold a debate and make a decision on a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister at the earliest opportunity.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sir Christopher Chope , Official Report, 30 April 2019; Vol. 659, c. 175 .]
[P002451]
Observations from the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Kevin Foster):
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 sets out in legislation the wording for a motion of no confidence, namely “That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government”. If such a motion is carried and the House does not pass a subsequent motion "That this House has confidence in Her Majesty’s Government” within 14 days, an early general election will take place.
It is an established convention that if the Official Opposition tables a no confidence motion in Her Majesty’s Government, the Government will facilitate Parliamentary time for a debate on that motion. This last happened in January 2019 when the House of Commons confirmed it had confidence in the Government.