Weary MPs prepare to cop a Christmas Brexit bashing Britain

They have sat through 24 hours of debate, three lengthy prime ministerial statements, a leadership challenge and a botched vote of no confidence. Now Britain’s MPs face their biggest challenge yet: explaining the mess that is Brexit to ordinary people during the Christmas holidays.

Politicians of all parties yesterday expressed some trepidation as they left their Westminster bubble to attend carol concerts and drinks receptions and to share festivities with their extended families during the twoweek parliamentary break.

Some have decided to simply leave the country to avoid being harangued over the political impasse, while others are hoping that contact with the real world might convince the ideologues on both sides to compromise.

Bim Afolami, a Conservative MP who entered Parliament only last year, falls into the latter category. He said that being away from Westminster for even just a few days provided a completely different perspective on how the electorate, who voted for Brexit, viewed the politicians whose job it is to deliver it.

‘‘The thing I have been picking up already is the complete bemusement at the lack of seriousness of how politicians are treating this. We’re really being watched – people are tuning in to debates, and they are seeing the absurdity of the way in which some MPs behave.

‘‘It isn’t that they want us to do one thing or the other, it’s that they don’t think we’re treating it seriously or acting in the national interest.’’

Afolami said a conversation with a friend who works in the City of London really brought home the sense of frustration to him.

‘‘He said, ‘I’ve been in meetings this week talking about how many people we should move to Ireland or France because of the no-deal threat’. I said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to get there and sort something out’. But he said, ‘Well, you’d better do it soon. Do you guys not realise the impact that these games have on real jobs and real people?’.

‘‘MPs are going to get a lot of that over Christmas,’’ Afolami added.

Nicky Morgan, chairwoman of the Treasury select committee, agreed.

‘‘Over Christmas you’re more likely to meet people who are not at all political, at the carol services and the Christmas tree festivals and things like that,’’ she said. ‘‘The difference is that you’re going out to things rather than sitting in a surgery where people have booked an appointment or have come to seek you out.

‘‘What I’ve found this year at things like Christmas tree festivals is that people are mentioning Brexit – people I’ve never had political conversations with before.’’

Other MPs said they were dreading facing the views of their voters on the political class.

‘‘Sensible MPs, if they can get out of an airport that’s not closed because of drones, will try and go abroad somewhere and just switch off their iPads and mobile phones,’’ veteran Conservative MP Keith Simpson said. ‘‘But the majority of us left behind are unlikely to be able to escape Brexit.

‘‘Last Friday morning I had to go to a large Tesco (supermarket), and within 10 minutes I had three separate couples come up to me to talk about Brexit.’’

Simpson said he would be watching the 2004 movie Downfall, depicting the final days in Adolf Hitler’s Berlin bunker, to help him prepare for the return for work. ‘‘The issuing of orders to non-existent units, the nervous collapse, the alcoholism – it is a good movie to watch.’’

One MP attempting to get away is Lichfield’s Michael Fabricant, who will spend Christmas in California and New Year in Wales. He said he was not entirely sure that he would escape the views of ‘‘normal people’’ in either holiday destination.

‘‘I’m not sure I won’t end up talking about it in either place,’’ Fabricant said, but he added that this was a good thing.

‘‘When you are away from Westminster, it actually enables you to be a little more philosophical, rather than the minute-byminute tactical thinking that goes on in the Commons.

‘‘There is great advantage in being with constituents, but there is also an advantage in getting away from it and thinking without distraction about where we’re heading.’’

So will the Christmas break encourage MPs to seek common ground when they come back for yet more marathon sessions in January? Fabricant is not so sure. ‘‘I do think we’ll come back and may be more willing to compromise,’’ he said before adding: ‘‘The trouble is, it will only last 12 hours.’’

‘‘People are mentioning Brexit – people I’ve never had political conversations with before.’’ Nicky Morgan, Conservative MP

AP An anti-Brexit demonstrator protests outside the houses of Parliament in London this week. British MPs say their twoweek holiday break is an opportunity for them to hear ordinary people’s views on Brexit, after weeks of wrangling at Westminster – even if what they are hearing makes them uncomfortable.