Tories have just days to rescue their party
HOW low the Conservative Party’s fortunes have plummeted since the heady, optimistic summer of 2016.
Back then, it had a new leader promising Brexit would mean Brexit and a 20-point lead in the polls. The Cabinet was united in its One-Nation purpose and backbenchers were positively fizzing at the prospect of Britain ‘taking back control’.
Today those same Tories look like a disorganised rabble – unable to deliver on a simple mandate and unfit to govern.
And what a bloody nose they got last week for their shortcomings.
Yes, the local elections were a heavy setback for Labour. But for the Conservatives, they were a virtual wipeout – with 1,269 council seats lost. This wasn’t just a protest vote, it was a howl of rage.
And the maddening thing is, the party’s vertiginous fall from grace has been entirely self-inflicted. If Brexit ultras and stubborn Remainers alike had the humility and sense to compromise, the Tories could be firmly in the ascendant.
Theresa May’s original deal had its flaws. But it honoured the referendum result, and would have taken us out of the EU in an orderly fashion.
By spurning it, the rebels on both sides have cast the future of their party into the maelstrom. And they have brought much closer the grotesque prospect of a government run by a coalition of hard-Left Labour and the Scottish Nationalists.
The former would bankrupt the United Kingdom with crypto-Marxist economic policies (evidenced yesterday by its plans to force the water industry back under state control with minimal compensation for shareholders), while the latter would be working tirelessly to engineer its break-up.
So can disaster be averted and a Brexit deal dragged over the line? Frankly, the chances are slim. It would require Labour to put its tribal differences aside and agree an accommodation.
And even if it did, such a compromise would probably involve a permanent customs union, significant single market alignment and a blind pledge to adopt future EU employment laws.
This combination would truly be a bitter pill not only for Brexit purists, but for many other Tory Leave-voters.
However, we must hope a tolerable deal can be forged this week. If it can, all Tories must give it sober and serious consideration. Calls from Iain Duncan Smith and others for Mrs May to go immediately are profoundly unhelpful.
She is already on her way out. Pushing her now, with a drubbing in the Euro elections to come on May 23, would serve little purpose. The country is crying out for MPs to ‘get Brexit done’. Until they do, the Tory party simply can’t move on – whoever their leader may be.
The parliamentary arithmetic wouldn’t change with a leadership contest. Mrs May’s successor would still have an unstable minority government.
So these backstage manoeuvrings are little more than a distraction. The real imperative is for the Tories to regroup and reunite without delay.
Be under no illusion, if they fail to do so, this great party could soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. THE Stephen Lawrence murderers and ISIS bride Shamima Begum are entitled to legal aid. The families of those killed in the London Bridge terror attacks receive nothing in their heartbreaking search for truth and justice. Why is it that our legal system so often puts victims to the back of the queue? WITH hunger endemic to many parts of the world, it’s a moral scandal that Britons throw away 100,000 tons of food a year. It’s everyone’s duty to reduce this appalling waste. We must try to buy only what we need. And if there is a surplus, freeze it to eat later.