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IN A MOVE designed to save face but also to set up Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party as scapegoats if Brexit goes wrong, Theresa May has asked Corbyn to solve the parliamentary Brexit impasse for her. This is a bit rich, coming from a leader of a party which got us into this fine mess in the first place.
It was former leader David Cameron’s fear that UKIP’s grandstanding on the EU would rob him of a parliamentary majority that led to him putting the UK’s membership of the EU to an in/out referendum.
Theresa May, landed the leadership on a plate, had to find a way to deal with the split in the Tory party which was ostensibly about how to deliver Brexit but had its roots in disagreements over how to cope with the global economic crisis that began in 2008. Some Tories (notably Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg) believed relatively high standards of production in the EU held back profitability and wanted the UK to go it alone (albeit hanging on to the coat-tails of the USA). Others believed the UK could only weather the storm of the global recession by sticking with the EU, and if we had to leave, formally, we should stay as close as possible.
May decided the best thing to do was to hold a snap General Election to boost her narrow parliamentary majority: in fact, she lost her overall majority and then had to rely on the Unionists to give her a working majority in the Commons. In this new situation, she decided to negotiate a deal with the EU and bulldoze it through Parliament at the eleventh hour, when MPs would be prepared to compromise to stop the other side winning.
That hasn’t worked either: it turns out that MPs are far too stubborn. Deprived of the opportunity to help define how to deliver the Brexit which the “out” vote backed, it turned out that virtually every MP had a unique insight into the problem and a unique Cunning Plan to solve it.
May soldiers on with her crumbling Brexit strategy.
But what problem is it? In fact, it’s two problems.
•First, the “deal” negotiated between Theresa May and the EU does not define the future. It is simply a withdrawal agreement which will cover the UK/EU relationship over the next two years, and a statement about how the UK and EU will negotiate a permanent deal. MPs are so keen to have a say at last that they are debating as if they were talking about the permanent arrangements themselves – and discussing as if they were deciding the solution, not merely a negotiating position. No wonder they can’t agree.
•Second, there’s a conflict over Ireland. The UK and EU are bound by a Treaty to ensure there is an open border between the Irish state and the six counties, but under Brexit there would have to be a border between the Irish state and the six counties, to separate EU-land from the UK and protect their different laws, tariffs and immigration rules. No one has worked out what to do about that. Theresa May’s answer was to delay solving the problem – but that has just left the Unionists, on whom she now relies for her parliamentary majority, determined not to support her on Brexit.
May has given up on any hope of placating the rebels in her own party or the combined back-bench attack which saw MPs take over discussion of Brexit issues, only to find they couldn’t agree a way forward any more than the Cabinet could. With all other boats burned and alternative avenues exhausted, May has had to turn to Corbyn. She is hoping that she can buy him off with a few concessions, in return for enough votes to get her “deal” through Parliament, so she can claim her place in history and then go off and write her memoirs and stroll round a few cornfields.
MPs tried to take over Brexit – but couldn’t agree on a way forward.
May will find that Jeremy Corbyn is not easily bought off. He’s not a Nick Clegg, ready to abandon half his principles in return for a seat at the grown-ups’ table. He’s not personally ambitious to win the trappings of power – though he’s personally ambitious for the many Labour members and supporters to have the power in society that they deserve. And, unlike May, he doesn’t fear the threat of a General Election.
It’s not up to Corbyn to deliver Brexit with and for Theresa May – and then draw back to allow Boris to be Prime Minister for the rest of the lifetime of this Parliament and lead the negotiation over a permanent relationship with the EU. It’s only up to Corbyn to deliver a people’s Brexit, if the people still want it – and then deliver a Labour Government. Let’s hope that his rebellious MPs recognise that Labour’s historic role is to oppose or govern as Labour – not as Tories in disguise.
•Read more about it:
Corbyn calls for General Election as May hints she’ll go
Corbyn opposes May backing for Trump warmongering
