More in common

Tories, Labour and Brexit splits

AT LEAST the business of the Government, and scrutiny of Ministers, can continue after the Queen’s Speech was passed, thereby sparing the country even more political turmoil and the possibility of another election.

Yet it’s hardly business as usual. Theresa May had to write out a £1bn cheque to secure the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party – money previously denied to the emergency services, NHS staff and regions like Yorkshire which have been repeatedly short-changed.

And Labour’s difficulties should not be underestimated. Even though Jeremy Corbyn appears to be in the political ascendancy, he had to sack three shadow ministers – a fourth resigned – after 50 MPs defied his orders and backed a Commons motion calling for Britain to remain in the single market. Mr Corbyn will argue that the election result, where Labour exceeded expectations, has afforded him the opportunity to punish those who are disloyal – and that Mrs May will be powerless to do so if she faces a similar rebellion.

Yet, given both of the main parties are divided when it comes to the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU in 2019, it’s all the more reason to end the divisiveness that continues to characterise this issue by setting up a cross-country commission that could ensure that the whole country’s needs come before party-political calculations. Both the Tories and Labour do, in fact, have far more in common than they care to admit. As no less a figure than the Archbishop of York intimated earlier this week, it’s high time they recognised as much.