www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/28/rory-stewart-hits-out-at-tory-rivals-over-suicide-bomber-remark?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Rory Stewart hits out at Tory rivals over 'suicide bomber' remark
Leadership candidate reacts to suggestion he is in race to clear path for Michael Gove
Instead he hopes to deliver Brexit via a citizens’ assembly, which he said he would convene on day one of entering No 10 and would pay a jury of 500 UK citizens to work a seven-day week to find a Brexit consensus that parliament would respect.
Stewart said he was inspired by the assembly that was convened around the abortion debate in Ireland. “I have a lot of confidence that we are one of the most educated and articulate populations on Earth and that if we had a citizens’ assembly they would be able to do what parliament has failed to do: step back, put party politics aside and look at a sensible resolution to this,” he said.
He said the outcome would be known by 31 October and would deliver Brexit more swiftly and securely than a candidate prepared to risk no deal.
“You need a Brexit deal to last for 40 years – the danger of revoke or no deal is that you end up in a very unstable situation. The issues are set up as very binary but actually in Ireland they broke it down to a whole series of different questions,” he said.
The assembly could potentially discuss a second referendum but Stewart said he believed they would reach the conclusion that it would be too divisive, leaving many issues unsolved.
“I’ve been an advocate for a pragmatic, moderate Brexit. My position would have been acceptable to most people who voted remain just after the referendum but positions have hardened,” he said. “A lot of people now want to reject the result of the referendum entirely. I did not feel that in the first weeks and months after the referendum.”
Stewart said he believed the House of Commons was unable to take on a similar role because of party divisions. “I have fantasised about locking members of parliament in a room, bringing in an international mediator, forcing them to take public evidence sessions from expert panels and groups for eight or nine hours a day, setting up a voting system to force them to come to a resolution,” he said.
“But the more I have looked at it, the more it is obvious to me that is not going to happen. Even before the second vote, I came across colleagues on both Labour and Conservative benches who didn’t understand or want to understand some pretty straightforward things, like what is the difference between the single market and customs union.
“Fundamentally, there is not a huge gap between me and Lisa Nandy [the Labour MP for Wigan who has advocated against a second referendum]. The problem is we are in different political parties. It’s so, so deep.”
A TORY. WITH ACTUAL IDEAS.