Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Three Tory MPs Quit Party, Another Labourite Joins IG
Brexit has created fissures in the British body politic. Yesterday, seven MPs of the Labour Party resigned the whip and opted to sit as The Independent Group. Today, three Conservative MPs left Theresa May's party to join them. Their numbers increased with an additional Labour MP, Joan Ryan, leaving. They now have more seats than the DUP that is keeping Ms. May in power on a confidence and supply basis and are equal to the Liberal Democrats. This could be the start of a complete realignment of Britain's political parties.
The Tories in question are Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen. In their joint letter of resignation, they cited the "disastrous handling of Brexit" and their belief that the current leadership had undone "all the efforts to modernise" the Tory party. Indeed, at their press conference, Ms. Soubry stated, "The battle is over, the other side has won. The right wing, the hard-line anti-EU awkward squad that have destroyed every leader for the last 40 years are now running the Conservative Party from top to toe. They are the Conservative Party."
The departing Tories are not going to be anti-government reflexively anymore than the ex-Labourites are going to start supporting it. However, on Brexit, they are clearly against Ms. May's deal with the EU and are completely opposed to a no-deal Brexit.
For about a century and a half, the division in British politics was between working class interests and business. The question was who shall benefit most from the economic activity of Britain and on what terms. Brexit asks a much different question. Is Britain better off as an outward-looking member of a global trading bloc of great magnitude, or is it better off an inward-looking medium power that charts it own course. This journal believes Britain is better off as part of the EU, and that the little Englander attitudes of the Brexiteers will contribute to international hostilities, which is what happened in the 1930s. Brexit risks the stability of Europe.
The great irony is that David Cameron opted to hold his referendum to end the rift between the eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party and the rest and to kill off the challenge of UKIP to Conservative Electoral Prospects. What he got was an ideological takeover of the Tories by the ideas of UKIP (but not the people of UKIP), a widening of the rift within the Conservative Party as a result, and the opening of the divides within Labour.
The tensions of Brexit already created opportunities for the Celtic nationalists, the LibDems and the Greens. The addition of the Independents Group to the mix suggests that the toothpaste is not going back in the tube ever. If the members of the IG can retain their seats in the next general election, they will represent yet another force undermining the duopoly of Labour and the Conservatives. They could accelerate the process by resigning to fight by-elections for their seats, but they have chosen to not to do so.
There are now 37 days until Brexit Day. There is no ratified deal with Europe. There is no unity in the government, none in Labour. The only people who know what they want are the Remain team, and they won't get what they are after. The emergence of the Independent Group as a genuine new force has yet to be confirmed, but it is starting to look like like a serious threat to the status quo.
© Copyright 2019 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
Kensington Review Home
|
|
|
