Brexit – We are now all political prisoners to this rancid government

By Graham Vanbergen: There simply isn’t any point in condemning the Tory party. They are now bereft of common sense, or morality for that matter. They listen to no-one, not even the electorate who are now aghast at not just their performance but their conduct. Their behaviour over Brexit will go down in history, they will never be forgotten, their reputation as the party that stands for good economics, business and stability lies in ruins. They are the party that made Britain an international laughing stock.

 

It was Europe, the issue for which many Conservatives still glorify Margeret Thatcher’s achievements, that led them to ditch her in 1990. John Major, the next Conservative PM to get involved in fighting over the EU never recovered from the ERM/Black Wednesday debacle that saw him ejected with the largest electoral defeat since the Great Reform Act of 1832. Then there was David Cameron, widely seen as Britain’s worst ever leader who simply walked away from the devastation of his decision. He stupidly attempted to stop Europe being the divisive political issue in his own party by settling this battle between the centre-right and radical right with a referendum – that backfired.

Not content with the gold medal for Britain’s worst leader, the Tories conjure up Theresa May. Her disastrous snap election should have told everyone in the room that this premiership was going down in flames. I warned time and time again that May was not up to the job of Home Secretary let alone lead the country at this most dangerous of moments.

She has single-handedly ruined her own authority, she is no longer believed any more and has absolutely no hope of success.

Watching this Prime Minister is a truly painful experience as she continues to drag us all through the same mindless game of ducking and diving survival techniques.

If there is any justice in the world, this entire political episode will be a stain on the reputation of the Tories forever. Truthfully, they should be disbanded and thrown to the wolves for what they have done.

As I have said before, Brexit has driven them mad. They are supposed to be the guardians of Gt Britain – instead, they are on course to destroy it. And for what?

They have pursued a lost cause which was impossible from the beginning. They then objected all the way to the wire to anything that gave clues of its complete futility. Desperate warnings from the very business groups and business leaders the Tories have classically supported through their own neoliberal ideologies have gone unheard. And the warnings are numerous and loud but they are deaf to its reality.

Their bickering and disputes have led them to attacking each other and even attempting to replace their terrible leader with a worse one whose own Brexit deal is the stuff of fantastical imagination and little else. Other than a hard-Brexit what are they proposing?

Cameron’s referendum folly has caused untold harm. So what now?

With well over one-third of her own party not confident that she should lead – Theresa May is left with one tactic – threatening the nation with a cliff-dive into oblivion or follow her into a slightly less painful catastrophe.

 

May is holding a gun to parliament’s head, she has spun the chamber and playing Russian roulette with Britain’s future. That’s it. We are all political prisoners to this rancid government.

 

And to think that the leader of the opposition has made no political capital out of this opportunity other than to create a panto scene of who said what about what women only goes to show the quality and leadership on both sides of the despatch box. Let’s call this out. Jeremy Corbyn is neck-and-neck with a lame duck whose political demise is 100 per cent assured. How is that even possible?

May has not secured any new concessions with Brussels. In fact, on her return, it appears that their position has hardened.

Theresa May’s deal is done. It has agreed on the so-called divorce, the transition period, further negotiations, citizens rights, other legally binding matters and of course, the backstop. If the backstop is rejected, the entire deal is rejected. May was told that her deal would not work but she has continued to drag us through this quagmire.

All other options are ignored. A second referendum is off the table because May says so. The week beginning 14th January is when the next drama plays out in Britain’s most agonising soap-opera. Amongst some of the most stupid political decisions ever including the Balfour Declaration, letting Murdoch into the British newspaper industry and backing Blair to become America’s arse-licking poodle – Theresa May is going to ask for a second time to back something she has already lost at every stage of asking.

And how much evidence-based documentation and information do we need before someone in the Tory party says ‘hang on a moment, we’re going off a cliff in a few weeks time.’ When someone did ask, the response is to put the army on the streets. Brilliant.

We have less than twelve weeks left before what those in the know think will happen – chaos breaks out. But hey – keep calm, it’s only looting, mugging, riots and a bit of gunfire.

 

The first working day after Brexit is April Fool’s day. It should be dedicated to the Tories. Forever.

 

It is foolish that this still needs saying at all, but a no-deal Brexit in any format is going to be a real event if Theresa May’s game of roulette fails. That being the case, the Civil Contingencies Act will likely suddenly become part of the lexicon of daily political terminology as the police and armed services equip themselves to deal with the fallout.

What is scary is that most people I talk to believe Theresa May has some sort of cunning plan – a political bunny to be pulled out of the Downing Street hat at the last moment and everyone will be amazed at her skill and intelligence that Britain was saved.

Theresa May cannot get the changes from the EU she promised MP’s after refusing to allow the vote on her deal. She is unable get her deal past the Commons and has to go to a vote on the 21st January. Nothing has changed except we’re closer to heading for the proverbial economic swallow dive.

There is only one set of facts remaining. Britain has a completely weakened Prime Minister unable to lead or govern and unable get her own deal through but is at the same time immune from being overthrown by her own party. But even if she was replaced, the utterly insane would take over and put Britain’s foot to the floor in an extreme version of Brexit called ‘crashing out’ – thus crippling the nation in every economic respect one could think of.

Or parliament could demand this all stops. That they take control of this madness and bring some sanity to the table. Somehow, with Corbyn on one side and some swivel-eyed Tory MP representing the 1850s on the other, this is highly unlikely.

 

Graham Vanbergen is the Editor of TruePublica and author of Brexit – A Corporate Coup D’Etat

 

 

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