Brexit means?
AS deadlines loom, Brexit negotiations are causing significant noise in Parliament, and so it would be useful to know what our local MPs are saying about this key issue. Theresa May, John Redwood, and Phillip Lee are all from the same political party (Conservative) and yet disagree rather impressively on how to exit the European Union.
Matt Rodda, by contrast, is from the Opposition (Labour), and so has no time for any of them. This is with the UK needing to draft a deal for the end of this month.
Firstly, let’s consider Mrs May. The MP for Maidenhead, and Prime Minister for the United Kingdom, is in charge of orchestrating the entire thing, opting for a total and final departure from the Union (a ‘hard’ Brexit). But her personal views on the EU are quite unclear; no-one knows what she would truly want: a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit, a ‘red, white, and blue’ Brexit, a ‘Canada plus’ Brexit, or a full english Brexit with two rashers of bacon.
She behaved as a quiet remainer during the referendum campaign two years ago, but has since become a firm Brexiteer, rejecting calls for a second vote of any kind. The main borough in her constituency (the vote was along borough, not constituency lines), however, voted to remain by an 8% majority.
Mr Redwood, the MP for Wokingham, is one of the most devoted and ardent Eurosceptics in the country. He has been lobbying for Brexit since before the
Euro was created, and signed a petition back in 2012 pushing for a referendum on EU membership.
Investments
He faced controversy earlier this year when it was alleged that he recommended (as global strategist for investment bank Morgan Stanley) that investors move money out of the UK and into the EU-backed European Central Bank. But this odd volte-face has not caused any change in attitude towards the EU, as MP of a borough which voted 58% remain.
By contrast, Dr Lee, MP for Bracknell (and thus Bracknell Forest council) is a public remainer.
In June he made news, stepping down as Minister for Victims, Youth, and Family Justice out of protest at Mrs May’s failure to give Parliament a ‘meaningful vote’. His website features anti-Brexit issues and he has recently declared in favour of a ‘People’s Vote’ on the final deal. Yet he represents a brough which voted 54% leave, suffering from the same constituentspersonal beliefs conflict as Mr Redwood( although, like Mr Redwood, it doesn’t seem to bother him too much).
Finally, Mr Rodda. As the newest of the bunch (taking Reading East last year) he has the quietest media platform, and rarely features on Brexit. In a statement released after a Commons vote in summer, he largely repeated the Labour line: supportive of Brexit, if not Mrs May’s specific deal. He committed to a customs union and to preventing a ‘hard border’ in Northern Ireland; both are Labour Party policies. Mr Rodda also continues the theme of our local
MPs defying their constituents’ vote: Reading had a relatively high vote of 58% to remain.
And so it seems that there is an odd mix of views among our four MPs. We are
represented by an arch-Brexiter, a party-line advocate, a confused leader, and a committed remainer. The only thing binding them together is that they’re all managing to defy voters’ views in quite confident fashion. But at least it’ll all be over soon?