Sir Keir Starmer will today face a crunch debate on holding a snap General Election after a petition received more than one million signatures.
The Prime Minister is facing a growing backlash over his policy announcements since entering No10, including winter fuel payments and an inheritance tax raid on farmers.
However, Labour is also under pressure to stop the small boat crisis in the Channel, with new fears being raised about Sir Keir’s plan to reset relations with the European Union.
Tory MP John Lamont will open the Westminster Hall debate at 4.30pm today, with Labour Minister Anna Turley responding on behalf of the Government.
The petition, which closed last month, stated: “We want an immediate general election to be held. We think the majority need and want change.”
However, the Government responded to the petition in August last year after more than 10,000 Britons signed the petition.
The Cabinet Office said: “This Government was elected on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election.
“Our full focus is on fixing the foundations, rebuilding Britain, and restoring public confidence in Government.”
Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after three petitions demanding an immediate General Election reached major milestones
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PA
The Westminster Hall debate, which comes just 12 months after MPs first debated holding a snap election, is expected to last for up to three hours.
Demand for a snap poll is particularly strong in Tory-held seats, with Brentwood & Ongar, Castle Point, Braintree, Rayleigh & Wickford and Maldon topping the list.
However, Labour-held Portsmouth North and Burnley also received more than 2,800 signatures.
Nigel Farage’s seat of Clacton garnered similar levels of fury, with signatures totalling 2,854 in the Essex seaside town.
The petition received over one million signatures when it closed last month
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PARLIAMENT
Speaking ahead of the debate, Mr Lamont said: “People are sick of all the mistakes that Keir Starmer and this Labour Government are making.
“Whether it’s the tax on jobs, the Family Farm Tax, a U-turn Winter Fuel Payments, Digital ID, the list is endless.
“People have had enough, and they want change.”
Brentwood & Ongar MP Alex Burghart added: “My constituents in Brentwood and Ongar, along with over a million people across the country, have made their views clear on this Labour Government – the most unpopular in history. They have broken promise after promise and carried out U-turn after U-turn.
Westminster Hall hosted a 150-minute debate last January | PARLIAMENT TV
It is clear that people are crying out for a credible alternative. Only Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives have the team and the plan to deliver the change this country needs.”
Despite public calls for a snap poll, it is highly unlikely that Britons will go to the polls anytime soon.
Under the now-repealed Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister needed to pass a vote to hold a national poll.
The Dissolution & Calling of Parliament Act restored the Prime Minister’s ability to call a General Election via the Royal Prerogative.
Sir Keir will send Government Minister Anna Turley to defend his record
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GETTYA no-confidence motion could theoretically force a General Election, although the composition of the Commons makes such a scenario incredibly unlikely.
The last time a Prime Minister was defeated in a confidence vote came in 1979, when James Callaghan lost by one vote ahead of Margaret Thatcher’s first General Election victory.
There have only been two other confidence votes lost by the Government in the House of Commons over the course of the 20th century, with Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay MacDonald both suffering defeats in 1924.
Both Boris Johnson and Theresa May more recently avoided being added to the Commons humiliation list by seeing off no-confidence votes by majorities of 109 and 19, respectively.