Lawmaker Floats 'Extraordinary' Idea for UK Politics

Caroline Lucas calls for emergency Cabinet of 10 women from all parties to take control of Brexit
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2019 8:07 AM CDT
Lawmaker Floats 'Extraordinary' Idea for UK Politics
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas thinks it's time for an emergency cabinet of women to form and save the UK.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A female lawmaker in Britain thinks the UK is headed for ruin under Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit leadership, and she's floating a provocative idea to fix things: an all-female emergency Cabinet made up of 10 women from all the major parties. Why only females? "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," writes Green Party MP Caroline Lucas in the Guardian. A news story in the Guardian calls the idea "extraordinary," and the BBC notes that such an arrangement—in which parliament members from several parties join together to form a government—has not happened since World War II. The idea is a long shot, and it would begin by having parliament pass a no-confidence vote against Johnson.

At that point, the new national unity Cabinet of women would form to lead the country—and put forth a new referendum on whether to go through with Brexit or have the UK remain in the European Union. Lucas writes that Johnson seems bent on having Brexit take place as scheduled in October with no deal at all in place with the EU, which she and other critics say would be disastrous. She is hoping to meet with her female colleagues this week to set the plan in motion. "In my experience, women tend to be less tribal, they tend to find it easier to establish trust more quickly," she tells the BBC. (John Oliver thinks Johnson is like Hugh Grant in a rom-com, and the analogy isn't a good one.)

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