Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition

[mushroom25]

following the EU referendum, the labour party have featured prominently in th news. the shadow cabinet suffered a cascade failure with a prominent sacking leading to resignations, with a subsequent cabinet reshuffle being followed by further upheaval, and a parliamentary party that (in the main) now opposes the party leader and his close aides.

it's been suggested by some columnists today that whilst the top shadow cabinet posts are filled, a good few of the more lowly positions have not and slowly, the business of parliament (with its myriad of committees, etc) will slowly grind to a halt.

does anyone know what the actual situation is with her majesty's loyal opposition? does the labour party remain an effective force in parliament, and could Mr Corbyn survive the current turmoil just by toughing it out? or will - as suggested - the work of parliament seize up over the next few days and weeks because there aren't enough shadow ministers in post?

[Zacs-Master]

Do you have any links to the articles?

[Old_Geezer]

I suspect the civil service carries on regardless of parliament and that if all government and opposition roles were empty it'd be years before anyone noticed.

That said, there is an exit from the EU to achieve without betraying the reasons it was called for in the first place (in an effort to pretend those who said it'd not be an advantage to go, seem right) so both sides need to get their act sorted.

[mushroom25]

i counsciously didn't provide any. i'd like the perceptions of the users of this section on a matter that's exercising the political establishment - without it turning into a critical appreciation of the tale-telling ability of certain areas of the press.

[ToraToraTora]

Sir Humphrey is running the shop, fret not

[Peter Pedant]

Her Majizz loyal opposition ?

there isnt one at present .... altho there should be.
He cant fill his shadow cabinet apparently

select committees have quotas of MPs - which are filled by selected sheep and if there is no one to nominate the sheep, the whole thing falls apart

I would have thought the civil service way out would be for a serving shadow minister also to take on the duties required.

During Watergate, Nixon spent up to 95% of a day discussing how to get out of the mess he was in and nothing else - and American wasnt THAT badly governed in the meant time

During the last part of the Callaghan 'government' before the vote of confidence that brought MT to power, 1979. One civil servant said, "The ministries didnt do anything - there were no policies and we sat there twiddling our thumbs"

I agree this time there is something to do ....
but probably not by a shadow cabinet

[ToraToraTora]

despite a lot of ill informed speculation, Labour are the second largest party and until he is replaced Jezza is the LOTO, end of.

[Gromit]

Not sure Shadows do much.
Lack of them harms no one other than the Labour Party.
They do not affect the running of the Government.

Resigning as a Shadow to undemocratically change their own is letting down the public that elected them as MP. It is putting self before the country.

[ichkeria]

As I've said before, regardless of the 'rules' Labour has ceased to function as a serious political opposition so for now the SNP are the de facto opposition.
Whether they are official or not they are certainly more effective

[Old_Geezer]

They seem to only make headlines when Sturgeon is making a fool of herself. Have they actually done any decent UK opposition activity recently ?