THE TORIES’ LOFTY INDIFFERENCE IS ENRAGING LABOUR

FEWER than five months into the current parliament, some opposition MPs are beginning to wonder out loud why they bother to turn up at Westminster at all. Labour, Lib Dem and SNP folk who had expected to be vastly empowered by Theresa May losing her majority are finding life just as frustrating as ever.

An emergency Commons debate this week heard a string of complaints that Tory ministers do not take their political foes on the other side of the chamber seriously. It was held in response to the Government’s decision not to order Tory MPs to turn up and vote against every opposition motion. As such measures are non-binding, the result is that Government defeats are becoming virtually routine in the Commons while being shrugged off as meaningless by the Prime Minister and her team.

Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael, who triggered the debate, wondered whether such behaviour by the Government had reduced Opposition Day debates in the Commons to the status of “debating society events”.

“I am sad to say that this Government does not welcome scrutiny by Parliament but rather seeks to avoid it,” he said.

The Tory refusal to be drawn into the opposition battles was a canny tactical decision given the current parliamentary arithmetic. Tory backbenchers welcome not being forced to take part in dozens of votes. The hope is that by only whipping Tory MPs into the division lobbies on important Government business they are less likely to get worn down. Tory whips want to focus on the big parliamentary battles and not get drawn into pointless skirmishes.

Labour MPs are particularly disgruntled that their usual string of motions condemning virtually every area of Government activity as savage attacks on working people are being treated with undisguised nonchalance. Yet their resentment only reveals their frustration at being out of power.

Since the general election, many of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s troops have been behaving like victors. Tory indifference at their point-scoring in the Commons will teach them that coming a close second at the polls still means little under Westminster’s winner-takesall system.