Decapitated

27 June 2016

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Tories, Labour Leadership Fights Ahead

The fallout from Thursday's bone-headed referendum on leaving the EU continues. Some two trillion US dollars in wealth got wiped off the books, the unity of both the EU and the UK are now at risk, and both of Britain's main political parties are more or less leaderless. At a time when sensible political leadership is vital, only the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party have someone at the top who has any sense at all. In the Conservative Party, Prime Minister Cameron is resigning after enjoying a full summer of week-ends at Chequers. In the Labour Party, a dozen members of the shadow cabinet have resigned, leader Jeremy Corbyn has replaced them, and it is only a matter of time before he has to face a challenge, probably before the party conference this autumn.

On the Tory side, the Remain campaign failed, and so David Cameron really isn't in a position to stay on. It is difficult to figure out how a man who helped lead the fight to stay in could credibly negotiate the departure. However, his insistence on sticking around is incomprehensible. He stated he was motivated by a desire to lend stability to the situation, but in truth, his successor needs to step in as soon as possible to provide certainty -- upon which stability is built.

Home Secretary Teresa May and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne could be alternatives to Mr. Cameron, but they, too, backed Remain. Someone needs to lead the Tories and run the country who proposed a departure from the EU. That said, it appears that Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, who were the leaders of the Leave campaign in the Conservative Party, are in no hurry to pick up the torch. It is as if, having won, they wish they hadn't.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party is suffering from a half-assed effort to Remain. The shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn (Tony's boy) said to Mr. Corbyn in a phone call over the week-end that he no longer had any confidence in the leader. He was duly sacked. The Telegraph says that 20 of the 31 members of the shadow cabinet have since resigned either to protest Mr. Benn's sacking or because they have no confidence in Mr. Corbyn's leadership or both.

Tomorrow, the Parliamentary Labour Party will consider a secret ballot vote of "no confidence" in Mr. Corbyn. He is going to stand and fight. He said late last night, "I am not going to betray the trust of those who voted for me -- or the millions of supporters across the country who need Labour to represent them. Those who want to change Labour's leadership will have to stand in a democratic election, in which I will be a candidate. In the next 24 hours I will reshape my shadow cabinet and announce a new leadership team to take forward Labour's campaign for a fairer Britain - and to get the best deal with Europe for our people."

That's all well and good, and he is entirely right to take that stand. However, there is a compelling need, at this stage, to hold a general election. That will probably require an act of Parliament as it goes against the Fixed Term Parliament Act of 2011. Labour will not vote for an election while its leadership is uncertain. The Remain Tories certainly don't want to do so either. What the Leave Tories want is anyone's guess. However, the point is that so long as the leadership of Labour is in doubt, Britain will not hold the election it so desperately needs.

Phil Wilson is the MP for Sedgefield and was chair of the Labour in for Britain group in the Parliamentary Labour Party. He wrote in today's Guardian "I have been told and shown evidence by an overwhelming number of unimpeachably neutral Labour remain staff that Corbyn's office, for which he must take full responsibility, consistently attempted to weaken and sabotage the Labour remain campaign, in contravention of the party's official position. For example, they resisted all polling and focus group evidence on message and tone, raised no campaign finance, failed to engage with the campaign delivery and deliberately weakened and damaged the argument Labour sought to make."

If true, Mr. Corbyn needs to go. If untrue, the fact that it is even plausible means Mr. Corbyn needs to go. The alternative is that Labour stumbles through the summer and loses the debate at party conference time to a Tory Party led by Boris Johnson, evena general election. That would leave Labour in the shadows for a parliament or three.

One doesn't suppose there is a way for the LibDems and SNP to form a coalition is there?

© Copyright 2016 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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