Tory rebels should face deselection for their treachery over Europe
Whatever happened to political party discipline? With the exception of Stephen Hammond, who was sacked as a Tory party vice-chairman, the other 10 Conservatives in last week’s hugely damaging anti-Brexit rebellion may be getting away with it scot-free.
The rebellion led to a Government defeat in the Commons, which gravely weakened the Prime Minister in her Brexit negotiations with the Brussels Eurocrats.
Government whips, no doubt, gave the miscreants a severe telling off, but other than that, at the time of writing, there seems to be no other form of punishment detectable.
But it is difficult to disagree with outspoken Tory backbencher
❝ MPs should remember they are elected not on personal appeal, but on the party they represent
Nadine Dorries that they should all be formally reported to their local constituency parties, with a view to their being deselected at the next general election.
MPs may deplore the whipping system, but they should remember that virtually every MP is elected not on personal appeal, but on the party they represent as a candidate.
This, therefore, makes them, generally speaking, duty-bound to follow the official party line, whether they agree with it or not.
In addition, this rebellion demonstrated that the rebels do not trust their leader. She had said parliament would, in any event, have the last say on this issue.
But that was not good enough for the rebels, who wanted to see that in writing. If they, insultingly, don’t trust the Prime Minister, they should have the guts to call for a leadership election.
Later, I heard motormouth Anna Soubry (left), a prominent rebel, say at great length on radio (poor Jeremy Vine could hardly get a word in) that they were defending the supremacy and sovereignty of parliament.
How can she say this when the EU pours scores of new laws into parliament, which just go through to the statute book without debate?
That is the very reason people are already starting to ask what is the purpose at all of voting at general elections, if power is insidiously passing to Brussels?
The existing turmoil in the Tory party will certainly not be remedied by events such as this.
Is Brexit Secretary David Davis (left) really as naive as was suggested by his remark that, in his job, you don’t need to be clever, just keep calm?
This seemed a remarkably feeble comment from a man with a tough London East End upbringing (and a broken nose to show for it), who is prominently engaged in the most difficult negotiations a British Government has been