I recall the fear within Tory ranks of the Brexiteers.
And tales that the Brexiteers could bring a leader down.
So where are the European Research Group that has been led by so many who went on to become ex-Ministers over time? And Jacob Rees-Mogg.
There do not appear to be 48 Tory MPs who want to topple May.
I think it safe to say that in that case whilst her Brexit deal is not safe, it is not as detested as the Brexiteers would like anyone to believe, at least in parliament, and at least in Tory ranks.
But that begs the question of what then this was all about?
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Just out of interest, have the European Research Group published any research?
Yes they have Jim
You can find it on a site called ‘Lax Research.com’.
Pilgrim Slight Return says:
“You can find it on a site called ‘Lax Research.com’.”
Actually you can’t.
The ‘Laboratory for Architectural Experiments’ site doesn’t have a lot to say about the ERG. It may I suppose consider ergonomics somewhere in its detailed discourses, I admit to not having delved deeply, but this should not I think be confused with ERG-onomics.
So Cameron called the Brexit vote on the basis of a group of people in his party who cannot even get enough support for a vote of confidence.
No wonder he’s been called history’s fool.
The ERG membership (if you would call it that) don’t actually give a toss Because within or without the EU they are going to do just fine feathering their own nests, as they always have done, with no regard for anyone else.
They really don’t belong in a parliament in a civilised nation state because they don’t have their constituents interests on their radar, but for some bizarre reason they are ‘electable’.
Sadly they are not the only members of parliament who fit that description.
But they are the future of the Conservative (though not I suspect Unionist) party in England, if the warnings about the far-right take over of the membership are accurate. You can see them morphing into the kind of nationalist, small state, anti- liberal (economically, socially and culturally) outfit that is emerging all over Europe and has gained power in the USA. The concept of one-nation Toryism is a busted flush and it’s adherents in the Commons will be driven out of their seats far more ruthlessly than anything Momentum can manage. Whether they can gerrymander their way into winning an election in the current UK is doubtful, but they have more of the press on their side here than Trump does. Polly Toynbee has a good piece on what they are really about in today’s Guardian.
I think we need to recognise that there is more than one type of far-right. The nationalist groups we see emerging in various parts of Europe are largely driven by xenophobia. The JRM/Raab Tendency in the UK conversely cares little about tribe, ethnicity, religion etc. It’s about plutocracy – a belief that power should be exercised by those with wealth and wealth should flow to those with power. I appreciate that they will fuel and use xenophobes to achieve their aims but that does not make them xenophobes. It makes them something much worse.
Thats a fair distinction George. Between the plutocrats (and oligarchs) with their far right views and those with xenophobic and nationalist views, expressed or latent, whom they are only too happy to exploit.
@George
I think it’s well past time we all began to realise that the traditional left/right political dichotomy is really very confusing to most people and produces considerably more heat than light.
When UKIP were picking-up Labour voters alarm bells should have been ringing. When ERG Brexit bullshit is appealing to a working (or formerly working, now unemployed, casualised and marginalised) class the bells should have been recognised to have become deafening.
The current battle lines are between elites and democrats. The left needs to reclaim ‘populists’ who believe that the right represents freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is something only the wealthy can afford without a democratic social contract that supports the interests of all.
There are some perverse conclusions to be drawn from Trump’s position in the states and the current barney over Brexit.
Trump was not part of the Republican Party establishment, but they’ve assimilated his rantings and turned them to their advantage. The democrats aren’t picking up on the aspects of what they are getting wrong and why they lost their former core supporters.
Brexit is similarly confusing, but although different, there are some (I would say alarming) parallels. When the far right and the ostensibly far left are making common cause it’s time to start doing some serious thinking about what we’re being dragged towards. And more importantly how we might stop it and direct the momentum and desire for change in a positive direction.
“Freedom of choice is something only the wealthy can afford”
See Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom – best book on development I ever read and applies to the UK as much as anywhere else. Universal Basic Services heads in that direction
Agree re the book and UBS
Polly Townbee’s piece is here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/20/hard-right-brexit-tory-revolution-no-deal-eu
For me she pretty much hits the nail on the head – and it’s not a pretty picture.
She is back on form
And right
If a country allows its mainstream media to be controlled by right-wing Libertarians and allow centre-right parties to be infiltrated by them then you have a recipe for trouble. Broad church political parties are obviously going to have to go out of fashion in consequence.
Which for me is a part of the case for PR. At least that way the extremes get flushed out into the open into their own parties and can be seen for what they are. More moderate opinions can fin legitimate political homes and If that means coalitions, I can live with that, given thats how most of the more ‘stable’, developed countries operate. Perhaps its telling that the US and UK have systems with just two political parties each vulnerable to being hijacked by more extreme tendencies
Robin Stafford says:
” More moderate opinions can fin legitimate political homes and If that means coalitions, I can live with that, …”
Well yes. We already do in so far as that is the inevitable result of ‘broad church’ parties. We have two of them and we have no idea what either of them actually stand for because they are riven by divisions.
PR is not perfect, but it has so many advantages in making voter preferences apparent. Nick Clegg’s foul-up of that opportunity ranks alongside the student fees betrayal; I don’t know which was the worse mistake. Getting into bed with vipers probably covers both.
I have a real problem with Brexit. I voted to remain but maybe I read too much. Bill Mitchell tells me that the EU is a neoliberal organisation. He thinks we should leave. He tells me about MMT. Richard Murphy tells me about MMT. He dislikes neoliberalism. He thinks we should remain. I don’t think Richard has a lot of time for Bill. I feel I’m on the set of The Life of Brian – over there is the popular front of Judea, over there the Judean people’s front. They don’t agree. None of the left wing groups agree. Just like they didn’t agree back in the 1930s. History will be repeated because everybody knows what’s wrong but nobody can agree how to deal with it. So, go and prepare for Dominic or Jacob or whoever you like. Oh, by the way, neither Richard nor Bill has a great deal of time for Simon or Jonathon which means they’d all prefer A continuation of what we’ve got. I utterly despair.
Read this moning’s blog
I am a pragmatist, unlike Bill
There’s this in this morning’s Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/20/britain-boardroooms-brexit-westminster-europe
Couldn’t agree more.
I still say that we should not be in this position. Wrought by rule breaking, dodgy financing and international interference the referendum is invalid and any sane polity would have stopped it and thoroughly investigated it by now and come to the conclusion that the decision (ha! – rather – the advice) was not safe.
And the real tragedy of the moment for me is that the Tories are still there bleeding the country dry of hope and a decent life for the majority of its citizens only to make it worse when we actually leave.
@Pilgrim Slight Return
Your link led me Mark Carney who is backing May’s deal ….sort of.
Basically he seems to be saying it’s better than no deal at all and the falling off the cliff edge that would lead to. But he’s also making the point that there’s not a lot the BofE is going to be able to do via its limited monetary levers to ameliorate the situation, and that the scarcely veiled threat of interest rate hikes to combat expected inflation increases should be putting the fear of god into over-leveraged businesses and the rest of us to boot.
I suppose he regards it as beyond his brief to tell politicians they should stop this fiasco in its tracks. They shouldn’t really need to be told.
Yes – good piece by Aditya C. Just as with Alston’s report on poverty, the government is in total denial.
As for Carney, he knows that any faintly challenging comment means he’ll be jumped on and told to get back in his box. I suspect the BofE are burning the mid-night oil planning for when it becomes blindingly obvious that the brown stuff is hitting the fan. Another shot of QE anyone? But what will they do with it this time – with this government, give it to the banks I suspect
Andy
‘Lax Research.com’ was just an attempt at humour at the ERG’as expense. Research? Yeah…………right.
Carney can’t say what he wants to say. As an ex-Goldman man, he may not want to say it anyway. Such are the times that we live in eh?
@Pilgrim Slight Return
I was quite pleased with ERG-onomics in the context…..but never mind. 🙂
Yes, I was forgetting the Goldmans……. Goldmen (?)
There’s are MP,s who do not agree with Brexit soft or hard and do no agree with a no deal Brexit but they will not stand up and be counted ,the reason is that their career in politics would be ended by the press that has a hold on British life, these MP,s will not vote to get rid of May they will not be proactive in saying they are against Brexit but instead will sit back and say nothing for fear of the press backlash .
These MP,s are not doing their job, the job they are paid to do, they are protecting their political career at the expense of doing what the voter asked them to do .
There is a last chance that the EU leaders see reason that the overwhelming reasons for the accumulated frustration with the EU vs the EEC are in no particular order
Gradual removal of home waters fish whilst paying for the EU to nations that don’t border the sea. Morally indefensible and very simple to understand
A trade deficit whilst Germany laughs with a huge 250Bn surplus
Being left to always be the fall guy/ canary in the goldmine warning of dangers and voicing unpopular but true issues to be faced and villified for it.
Having a 15% increase in population abiding by the law whilst the other nations France Germany flout even the strongest rules when it suit them. Most EU countrys would need to build two new capitals just to accommodate the visitors.
The lack of sensible checks or balances on the EU commerce leadership structure that MEPs rubber stamp assuming the law is perfect.
The raising by the EU of ‘false flag issues’ to act as bargaining chips to throw away later.
The persistent and continued exploitation of the UKs economy, money, intellectual property, “language” to further everyone else’s economy but ours.
Ignorance of the poor masses and the self serving of the isolated Brussels elite
Where do I begin?
Let’s start with your assumption the EU Parliament rubber stamps: it does not.
Much of the rest is wrong as well
“Much of the rest is wrong as well”
Hmmm…. Wrong ?…or just paranoid ?
The MEPs cannot amend any law put before it. How much of a rubber stamp is that process?
You have rose tinted glasses me thinks and I hope not affected by your paid for EU sponsor.
However a scenario of hard brexit battle on the high seas of the North Sea, queues of lorries from the extra 4 days customers of 12,000 x 12m and a substitution of products from abroad instead of EU products.
Some more unemployment in the core countries may spur some change in the MEPs elected one hopes yet I dont hopld out much hope of that after all Italy, Spain, Greece unemployed don’t count so why not more in Bavaria . .
They can pass resolutions
The process of law making is vastly more subtle than you obviously think