Not a word Labour says can ever be trusted again
Tragically, there is not much we know for certain about what’s going to happen with Brexit. But there is one thing we do know. it is that whenever labour frontbenchers speak on the subject, not a word they say can be believed or trusted. it is no exaggeration to say they are liars.
Virtually every day since the referendum in June 2016, labour has offered warm words and iron promises to honour the country’s decision. Their 2017 manifesto, on which every labour MP stood, was explicit: ‘labour accepts the referendum result.’
as recently as Monday, their trade spokesman, Barry gardiner, declared: ‘labour is not a remain party.’
and yet when push came to shove yesterday, rather than vote to honour the referendum, the party’s MPs went back on their word and treated voters with utter contempt.
With the exception of Kevin Barron, rosie cooper, Jim Fitzpatrick, caroline Flint and John Mann – the five honourable MPs who yesterday defied their party whip and supported Mrs May’s withdrawal agreement – every other labour MP exposed himself or herself to be a liar. it was shameless and appalling. Just five days ago, Sir Keir Starmer, labour’s Brexit spokesman, told the commons that he accepted that there was no realistic alternative to the withdrawal agreement established by the government and the 27 other EU countries.
‘i certainly accept the proposition that the EU has said that the agreement is not for reopening at any stage, and it has resisted that for month after month from the government,’ he said.
in other words, labour, at its highest levels, was well aware that the only options left were the withdrawal agreement or no Brexit – since labour and other MPs have made clear that they will not countenance leaving the EU without a deal.
last month, Jeremy corbyn wrote to Mrs May setting out his demands for changes to the deal. Not once did he mention opposing the withdrawal agreement. all his demands were focused on the political declaration that was intended to run alongside the agreement.
as labour’s own statement put it: ‘The labour leader says that while the Prime Minister is focused on negotiating changes to the backstop, she needs to enshrine five changes to the political declaration in law to secure labour support for a sensible deal that can bring the country together.’
yesterday’s commons vote had the political declaration deliberately omitted precisely so that MPs would be able to pass the withdrawal agreement and progress could then be made towards delivering Brexit.
if labour had meant a word of what it said about honouring the referendum, it would have acted in accord with its own promises and not
opposed the withdrawal agreement. But it didn’t.
Nothing more clearly exposed the basic truth that labour isn’t, and has never been, interested in delivering Brexit than the contrast yesterday between Mr corbyn’s party and the behaviour of the hardline conservative Brexiteers.
Far too late, most of the Tory archBrexiteers realised that the only real choice they had was between the withdrawal agreement or no Brexit.
So they were forced to eat humble pie and do the right thing by the country in voting for Mrs May’s deal, knowing that their previous obstinacy and opposition to it had endangered Brexit altogether.
But for labour, Brexit and the current chaos represent nothing more than a political opportunity to cynically exploit in the hunt for power. looking at the arithmetic of yesterday’s commons vote, the mess Britain is in today can be laid squarely at the door of the labour party.
a party which has played fast and loose with the country’s economic well-being, international reputation and its future.
When corbyn became labour leader, some saw him as a breath of fresh air – a man of lasting principles who would change politics for the better.
can there be anyone left who still believes that guff?
LEAVE
aside all the other issues that show how unfit for office he is, such as the anti- Semitism crisis, his support for terrorists and the repeated siding with Britain’s enemies over our allies.
Focus on Brexit alone. corbyn is incapable of telling the truth on the subject.
During the referendum campaign he was conspicuous by his absence. Since then, he has tried to ride both horses, letting his heartland voters in the north of England think that he would honour their support for Brexit. Meanwhile, he let his metropolitan remain voters – including the young who helped sweep him to the party leadership – believe he was on their side.
in truth, what he really thinks doesn’t matter.
What matters is how he acts. and his actions have shown him to be the most cynical mainstream party leader in living memory.
Brexit, and the views of 17.4 million voters, have been exploited by him and his cronies as nothing more than a vehicle to cause maximum chaos, to engineer the circumstances in which he and his untrustworthy hard-left allies can take power.
it may well be that Mr corbyn gets his way and our country is subjected to its third general election in four years. The terrible truth is that shamelessness and treachery can be rewarded in politics. How we will all suffer if that is now the case.