Spare us from Baroness Swinson of Stop Brexit

THOUGHT you’d seen the last of the insufferably irritating Jo Swinson? Think again. Plans are afoot to send her to the Lords. Despite leading her party to a crushing General Election defeat, losing her own seat in the process, she’s in line for a peerage.

Ed Davey — sorry ‘Sir’ Ed — the ‘interim co-leader’ of what’s left of the Lib Dems at Westminster following Swinson’s Stop Brexit humiliation, said: ‘The whole party is deeply upset and disappointed. Jo was a friend and a colleague and I want her back in Parliament as soon as possible.

‘She has so much to offer British politics and our thoughts are with her and her family, but we know that she has a bright future. We thank her for what she did and I hope we can ensure that what she argued for and her legacy on the Brexit issue can continue because Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose Brexit in Parliament.’

It’s difficult to know where to start when confronted with a statement brimming with such sanctimonious lack of self-awareness.

Let’s be charitable. I’m sure they are disappointed that Swinson lost her seat, along with those of ten other Lib Dem MPs. Oh dear, how sad, never mind. But it’s worth remembering that most of those turfed out weren’t even Lib Dems until fairly recently. They were a noxious mixture of Tory turncoats and Labour defectors.

‘I want her back in Parliament as soon as possible,’ says Mister Ed.

Who the hell does he think he is? And what did he do to deserve a K? ‘Our thoughts are with her and her family.’ That’s the kind of routine platitude trotted out after every murder, fatal car crash and terrorist atrocity.

She lost an election, not her life, for heaven’s sake. Anyway, it isn’t as if she’s a stranger to defeat. Swinson was beaten by the SNP in 2015, winning East Dunbartonshire back two years later.

Losing elections is an occupational hazard for politicians, just as imprisonment was for

Norman Stanley Fletcher. Plus, she was only Lib Dem leader for 144 days. We’re not talking Herbert Asquith here, who led the Liberals for 18 years — eight of them as Prime Minister — and created the Welfare State.

SO IT’S probably fair to say that Earl Asquith just about earned his peerage. Could anyone say the same for Violet Elizabeth Swinson? The giveaway is in the last part of Davey’s glowing lament: ‘I hope that we can ensure that what she argued for and her legacy on the Brexit issue can continue because Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose Brexit in Parliament.’

Fat lot of good it’s going to do them. There are only 11 Lib Dems still standing. That’s her legacy.

Labour is in utter disarray. The Tories have an 80-seat majority. Brexit is going to happen.

Even that shameless old federast Heseltine admits the game is up.

Maybe die-hard Remainers still delude themselves that they can frustrate Brexit in the Lords, where the Lib Dems already have 92 peers — a number out of all proportion to their support in the country.

Make that 93 if and when Baroness Swinson joins their ranks. If she is elevated to the Upper House it will be yet another anti-democratic outrage.

This is the woman who promised unilaterally to abort the result of the 2016 referendum, the biggest single vote for anything in British history. In so doing, she demonstrated her contempt not just for the 17.4 million people who voted Leave but for the entire concept of democratic consent and fair play.

Not only that, but in her graceless speech following her defeat in East Dunbartonshire, she made it clear that she thinks the result of the election was a triumph for racism and said she was ‘filled with dread’ about the future of our country.

It’s difficult to think of anyone less suitable to be sent to the Lords. Mind you, this is the woman who in a fit of hubris insisted hilariously she was going to be our next Prime Minister.

What also sticks in the craw is the intergalactic sense of entitlement. Why should failed politicians qualify for a tax-free £313-a-day sinecure when they lose their seats? Let alone be allowed to play a part in shaping legislation?

The whole system stinks and is in desperate need of reform. Fortunately, Boris Johnson is reported to be planning a major constitutional overhaul, not just of the Lords but also finally getting round to cutting the number of MPs and equalising the size of constituencies.

He can make a start by deciding against a dissolution honours list. There have been whispers that Tory Zac Goldsmith, who lost his seat to, er, the Lib Dems, will be made a peer so he can continue in government. That would be a serious mistake.

By ALL means find Goldsmith a job, but don’t let him vault back into Parliament after being rejected at the ballot box. It’s not as if Zac needs the dosh.

If the Prime Minister does make Goldsmith a lord, he’d have no moral authority to prevent the Lib Dems insisting that Swinson becomes a Baroness.

That’s not to say it won’t happen. He’s made ex-Tory MP Nicky Morgan a peer, even though she stood down in October saying she couldn’t do another five years. Now she’s staying on in her old job as Culture Secretary, from the Lords, without having bothered to trouble the voters.

Where will it end if all the MPs we kicked out last week are sent upstairs?

Baroness Swinson of Stop Brexit would be bad enough. But the prospect of Lord Grieve of Grenoble, or Lady Soubry Loo of Sancerre is simply too horrible to contemplate.

Mind you, Baron Beast of Bolsover has a nice ring to it . . .