... and for once, as these brazen selfies show, the Mail agrees with Brussels
GIVEN his role as the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator it’s rare that he says anything us Britons agree with. But yesterday Guy Verhofstadt spoke for many when he warned that Britain’s dithering MPs are once again running down the clock until the next No Deal Brexit cliff-edge in October.
‘The proof of this,’ he said incredulously, ‘is the first decision the Commons has taken – to go on holidays.’
Mr Verhofstadt had a point. While we’re all working, the Commons has shut down for an 11-day Easter recess, and dozens of MPs, who have stymied Brexit and reduced Britain to an international laughing stock, are tweeting merrily about their holidays without a care in the world.
Quite who’ll be interested in these snaps with their trite messages is anyone’s guess.
Take Tory Luke Graham, a Tory MP who did not waste any time flying out of Britain, publishing a picture of himself beside a tulip-bed in Amsterdam with an expansive gesture and a wide grin.
Meanwhile, eyebrows were raised at the veteran Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin’s decision to go on holiday in Belgium, the procedural heart of the EU. Sir Bernard, a leading figure in the archBrexiteer European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs – many of whom staunchly opposed the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement – is on a sightseeing tour of Ghent, less than an hour from Brussels. ‘I thought Belgium would be the last place anyone would expect to see Bernard Jenkin,’ sniffed one Theresa May loyalist. The similarly hardline Eurosceptic Steve Baker, who resigned as Brexit minister last
Belgian break: Bernard Jenkin’s snap of his wife Anne in Ghent summer, has returned to his native Cornwall for his Easter break. The MP for Wycombe, who was born in St Austell, posted photographs of Mevagissey Harbour and the interior of a pub.
Mr Baker, the deputy chairman of the ERG, rejects any responsibility for the fact Brexit still hasn’t happened – even though he has voted three times against the PM’s deal.
The Labour ex-cabinet minister Yvette Cooper, an architect of the move to wrest power from government on Brexit and hand it to Parliament, has travelled to Paris. Ms Cooper, whose Bill taking a No Deal Brexit off the table was passed by a single vote, published a photograph of the blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral, saying: ‘Have just come away from the bank of the Seine after the spire fell as I can’t bear to watch any more.’
Ellie Reeves, the Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge, is in Wales. She posted a photograph by a cosy wood stove, saying: ‘It’s been a busy few months. Taking some time out in Wales for a much needed rest.’
Nadine Dorries, another Brexiteer Tory MP who has reluctantly voted for Mrs May’s deal, posted a photograph of a remote beach in Devon. ‘Sunny but freezing!’ was her verdict.
Brexiteer Tory MP Rachel Maclean, who also supports the PM’s deal, is on a walking holiday in the Lake District with her two rescue dogs.
The Redditch MP paid tribute to the animals’ ascent of Blencathra: ‘Well done Herbie on his first proper hill – he razzled up and down with no problem at all!’ she wrote. ‘Following in his big sister Phoebe’s steps.’
Let’s hope the MPs – including the Prime Minister herself, quietly walking in Snowdonia – are enjoying these breaks while they last. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned yesterday that Brexit talks with the Government are on the verge of collapse. Our lawmakers may soon need their phones for more than tweeting jolly holiday snaps. They might find themselves summoned back on them to get back to work.