Look, Theresa, I really don’t understand this. The European Union have told you that you can’t have this. You keep telling them that it’s what you want. When are you going to understand that, when you choose to leave, you get what they want you to have, especially when you have no status quo to revert to?
One assumes that someone has tried to explain this to our Prime Minister, but given that she has rather painted herself into a corner, it probably wouldn’t make any difference. In fairness though, even without her ludicrously self-harming red lines, her platform is being demolished by the ERG on one side, and the Democratic Unionists on the other.
And yes, there are signs that more thoughtful senior colleagues are looking for a way out, but between a Canada+++ option, which doesn’t solve the Irish border issue, and a Norway (—?) option, which doesn’t really exist, it does appear that we’re heading for either a snap election or no deal. And whilst Liberal Democrats might benefit from the former, is it likely to resolve anything, or would another even more painfully hung Parliament be the outcome? I was, at least, impressed by Jeremy Hunt’s spoken Japanese…
So, where are we now? Labour are meeting in Liverpool, with creative ambiguity the order of the day over Brexit.
If Labour bows to middle class liberal elites' demands for a second referendum (because they're the only ones who want one), they thereby insult the millions of Labour voters who knew exactly what they voted for in June 2016. And almost guarantee they lose the next election-IMHO pic.twitter.com/3QmHc91ka7
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) September 23, 2018
The Party’s membership, having been described as a middle-class elite by Iain Dale (who should really know better), appears to be overwhelmingly in favour of a “people’s vote” – it’s called internal Party democracy, Iain – with a leader who, frankly, isn’t. Can. or will, Jeremy and his mate Len deny their supporters the vote that they seem to want? And if they do, what do those who joined Labour to fight Brexit do?
Elsewhere, the Prime Ministers of Malta and the Czech Republic have suggested that a referendum wouldn’t be unwelcome. In other words, if a referendum took place, European leaders would be minded to give us an extension to the deadline in order to complete it. Unsurprisingly, this was seen by the Brexiteers as being an unwarranted interference. It’s called “giving you more options”, but these are Conservatives against choice, it seems. As is always the case, Conservatives only believe in freedom and choice when the freedoms and choices on offer are ones they approve of.
But I sound angry this morning, and it’s too nice a day for that. We’ve got a full slate of articles on Brexit, on party reform, on electoral reform and campaigning, so there’s plenty for you to get your teeth into.
And, if you need a laugh, here’s a video of men in penguin suits attempting to fill buckets of water on a revolving turntable (TW: Stuart Hall is doing the commentary)…
* Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice.
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6 Comments
Iain Dale knows about insults and regularly sounds as if he’s never had a humble opinion for some time.
Not very creative ambiguity, as this article from the New Statesman shows:
https://www.newstatesman.com/brexit-labour-people-vote-second-referendum-leave-remain-jeremy-corbyn
Labour is clearly placing itself as the Party of Brexit, just a ‘less bad’ Brexit than we would get from the Tories. The Remainers within Labour must despair.
Iain Dale? Ah, yes, the Tory candidate in North Norfolk in 2005 – helped to increase Norman Lamb’s majority from 400 to over 10,000.
Clearly a man of the people and a legend in his own lunchtime.
After just watching Sir Keir Starmer attempt to sit on the fence again I despair.
When will anybody (other than us) put the country before party?
MPs are suppsed to be our representatives but no one is prepared to stand up for what is best for the country – using ‘the will of the people’ as a fig leaf.
When it all goes badly wrong – if no deal WTO rules require a hard border in Ireland or, with a deal, there will be an intra-UK border – the ‘politicians’ will magicly say it’s not our fault it’s the EU, the Tories, the Remainers or the Brexiters.
When jobs start going in the car factories, drug companies and banks it will be because the deal was too tough or not tough enough.
It won’t help the poor people who were promised the earth by the posh toffs and who will find themselves infinitely worse off while the hedge fund managers rake in the cash.
That is a real danger to democracy and to the UK. Labour need to get off the fence and back what 86% of their members want and stop running scared of the bully boys.
My first thought is that we decided, on the basis of a flawed voting process, to leave the EU. Why, therefore, does the EU owe us anything? Ever since we joined we’ve been busy moaning, whingeing, whining and complaining.
My second thought is that I am sick and tired of the politicians who seem to only think of their career prospects – principally Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. This decision affects the whole country, not just Tories. Why, therefore, is it seen as a Tory vanity project? Should the negotiations not have been conducted by a cross-Party committee?
Just thinking.
@David Goble
“This decision affects the whole country, not just Tories. Why, therefore, is it seen as a Tory vanity project? Should the negotiations not have been conducted by a cross-Party committee?”
Perhaps because (bearing in mind the flawed vote and the referendum campaign heaving with lies) we are living not in a democracy but in an elective dictatorship?