The Conservatives need some self-belief

The Brexit saga has had more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel but without, as yet, a denouement. In the Commons today MPS will once again commandeer the Order Book from the Government and try to reach an agreed approach after the Prime Minister’s deal with the EU was defeated for a third time on Friday.

Last week MPS rejected eight separate alternatives in a series of “indicative” votes; but the two options that received the biggest support – a customs union and a second referendum – will be reconsidered today. They are both supported by the Opposition parties and since Theresa May does not have a majority in Parliament she can be outgunned if her opponents can maximise their vote. So far they failed to do so but that might conceivably change. Still, both of these options are opposed by the Government, and ministers have indicated that they will not implement them even if they are supported.

This is constitutionally questionable to say the least. For a Government without a majority to thwart the wishes of the Commons when it is being consistently and remorselessly defeated on its own policies is inimical to the very democratic process.

Mrs May is right to say that both a customs union and a second referendum are bad ideas; but so, too, is the deal she has negotiated, a view taken emphatically by the Commons and reflected by voters in the polls.

If the Commons votes for something that a minority administration refuses to implement then we are in the realms of a constitutional crisis that can only be resolved by a general election. Yet ministers are also arguing against this, too, because they fear a Labour government. They cannot, in all conscience, both stop Parliament getting its way and block the means of replacing it.

The Tories are apparently fearful of an election installing a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn. That is defeatist talk. Are they so unsure of the message they would bring to voters that they are terrified of their verdict? They are up against the most Left-wing Labour leader since the war, possibly ever. His Marxist prescription for the country would wreck the economy and most people know it. The Tories need to recapture their self-belief and a sense of optimism to rally the country. With the right policies and leader they need not fear Mr Corbyn.