Daily Mail

COMMENT

CONTRAST the calmness and composure of Mrs May with the shrill baying of the peacocking saboteurs. What do these low-grade assassins offer as an alternative? Theirs is not a grand plan, it is an economic suicide note. If they have any shred of responsibility they must pause to consider the demons they may unleash. The hard fact is it’s either the PM’s deal, no deal or no Brexit. Anyone who thinks otherwise has simply lost the plot.

THERE was a time when loyalty and respect were among the most cherished of Conservative values. No longer, it seems. Certainly neither was in evidence yesterday, as hard-line Brexiteers turned on their leader in a deeply unedifying display of petulant defiance.

Having toiled for two years against daunting odds to secure a Brexit deal which honoured the referendum result, Theresa May might at least have hoped for the support of her own side for her Stakhanovite efforts – possibly even an ounce of gratitude.

Instead, she and her draft agreement were greeted with contempt by peacocking saboteurs, whose antics risk saddling this country with the worst of all possible Brexit outcomes.

A day of high drama was punctuated by a string of ostentatious resignations – mainly from obscure Government figures vying for attention.

Most disappointing of the quitters was Dominic Raab, in whom Mrs May had placed huge trust by appointing him Brexit Secretary. To flounce out now, rather than working to improve the deal he helped negotiate, is inexcusable.

As with so many of the wreckers, he appears to have placed personal ambition (he clearly sees himself as a future leader) above the national interest. There was also a combative Commons statement from Mrs May, during which she retained her dignity and poise while all about were losing theirs.

Indeed, throughout a long and exhausting day, the Prime Minister’s calmness, good humour and composure under fire was in stark contrast to the shrill baying and the vanity of the vandals.

Ironically, the nastiest and most deplorable attempt to unsettle her came from hard-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, a man who pretends to be the very model of courtesy and chivalry.

He goaded and harangued her in the chamber, then later called on his colleagues to support a vote of no confidence in her. So much for old-fashioned good manners.

But what if these low-grade assassins were to be successful in defenestrating their leader? What can they possibly hope to achieve by it?

Any replacement would be faced with the same problems that she has battled so resolutely to overcome. Who on earth do they think would do a better job?

The truth is that with the country split almost down the middle and Brussels keen to punish the British people for having the temerity to vote Leave, negotiating Brexit was never going to be smooth. Compromises, some of them unpalatable, were always inevitable.

Mrs May has strained every sinew to forge a deal which can unite a divided nation by securing our departure with minimum disruption.

And the very fact that hardBrexiteers think the proposed deal is too soft and soft-Brexiteers think it’s too hard, suggests she has plotted her way through the minefield with considerable skill.

Yes, there are serious imperfections, particularly the open-ended nature of our participation in the customs union and the unresolved uncertainty over the future of the Irish border.

But this is a draft agreement. That means it can be altered or adapted to overcome these problems in time.

On the positive side, it brings an end to free movement, control of borders and offers the promise of frictionless free trade.

It takes us out of the Common Agriculture and Fisheries Policies – crucial for Scotland’s Tories – ends the jurisdiction of the European Court over British law and means we will no longer be sending vast amounts of money to Brussels every year. These are by no means small achievements and amount to a Brexit that all but the most inflexible should be able to swallow.

And what do the plotters offer as an alternative? What is their grand plan? A tumultuous no-deal scenario, with hard borders from Ulster to the Channel ports, onerous WTO tariffs and the likelihood of many large corporate employers departing these shores.

This isn’t a plan. It’s an economic suicide note.

To emphasise the point, the mere suggestion of no-deal sent the pound tumbling yesterday and prompted a slew of warnings that crashing out could have truly dire consequences for trade, jobs, investment and growth.

Indeed, big business was positively queuing up to repudiate the hardBrexiteers and to back Mrs May’s plan. BAE Systems, Airbus and the Confederation of British Industry all saw it as bringing an end to dangerous uncertainty.

How different their well-founded optimism is from Boris Johnson’s intemperate description of the deal as ‘disgusting’.

And who are they, these selfappointed guardians of the Brexit flame – a loose affiliation of backbench zealots, failed ministers and serial show-offs, who claim to represent Britain’s best interests but risk destroying their party and the nation’s prosperity.

They are, of course, entitled to their opinion. But, for all their pretensions, they speak for no one but themselves.

If they have any sense of responsibility, they must pause now and consider the possible consequences of their actions – and what demons they may release.

The threat of a Corbyn government – possibly even in a monstrous coalition with the SNP, which could lead to the irrevocable break-up of the United Kingdom – looms larger than ever.

Ever the opportunist, Nicola Sturgeon was quick to predict the ‘inevitable’ end of Britain, no matter that her own party is at least as split over Brexit as the Tories, with many Nationalists unwilling to grab power from Westminster only to cede it back to Brussels.

And how ironic that Ian Blackford warned the Commons that departing the EU could wreak economic chaos. Scots know well that being ripped from our most important market – the UK – would be chaos on steroids.

Independence is inevitable? Inconceivable, more like, which is why support for the SNP’s crackpot separation plan has stalled.

But if Mrs May is unseated, or fails to get her Brexit deal through Parliament, the spectre of Labour and the SNP winning by default rears up.

The people are exasperated by Brexit stasis and appalled by the fractious infighting in the Tory Party.

Despite the havoc a Marxist government and a damaging and unwanted Indyref 2 would wreak on the nation, voters might just be tempted to think that anything would be better than the fiasco we have now. Would the kamikaze plotters really risk that? There is no appetite among Conservative voters for a leadership contest. None of the pretenders are anywhere near as popular as the woman they seek to topple and significant numbers believe Mrs May’s Brexit deal is the best available.

And that is with the Tory Party in a state of self-induced chaos. Imagine how her popularity would soar if the whole Parliamentary party rallied round her and pulled together to make her deal work.

This paper has always respected the referendum result and has never doubted Mrs May’s commitment to honouring it.

No viable alternative to her plan has been put forward and, with the hour of our departure almost upon us, it’s too late to formulate one.

The fact is, it’s either her deal, or no deal, or no Brexit. Anyone who thinks otherwise has lost the plot.