A real Brexit will keep Corbyn from power
In 2017, Jeremy Corbyn was asked why, in the past, he had met with groups linked to the IRA. He replied: “You have to talk to people with whom you don’t agree, and I did.” So, he was willing to invite extremists to Parliament and share platforms with terrorists, but has refused to meet with the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to discuss Brexit.
Mr Corbyn lives in Wonderland. He says he won’t meet the Prime Minister until she has taken a no-deal Brexit off the table, but, as Theresa May pointed out to him in a letter yesterday, a no-deal Brexit is simply what happens if Britain does not have a deal – thus, by voting against Mrs May’s deal on Tuesday, he put Britain on the path to no deal and so long as he won’t negotiate an alternative, that is where Britain will end up. Moreover, a no-deal outcome is a necessary element of Britain’s negotiating strategy. If Britain were to announce that it will accept a deal – any deal – just to avoid leaving without one, the EU would suddenly have all the power. It would be like walking into a car dealership and announcing: “I’m here to buy a car, I don’t care what kind or how much it costs, so long as I get a car.” Any person with an ounce of sense would know that the customer is going to end up driving away in a clapped-out, over-priced deathtrap on wheels.
Not only does Mr Corbyn lack that requisite intelligence, he also isn’t the moral paragon his supporters think. He is supposed to represent ideological purity but his position on Brexit is a cynical fudge; he is supposed to act always in the national interest, yet he has been exposed by the pointless confidence vote as a man obsessed with triggering a general election to win power. And now, having refused to meet Mrs May, he cannot legitimately claim that he has “done everything” to resolve the Brexit crisis. The only thing to recommend his stance is that it happens, by pure accident, to have hit upon a home truth, which is that there is nothing left to negotiate.
There are only four options: cancel Brexit; delay Brexit; time runs out and there is no deal; or a customs arrangement. Cancellation is (fingers crossed) impossible for a Tory prime minister because it would destroy the party. Delay, even if a technical necessity, obviously isn’t a solution in itself. That leaves the choice between a permanent customs union (Mrs May’s backstop deal to infinity and beyond) vs leaving without a deal – and both of these solutions are totally unacceptable to different wings of both the Conservative Party and the wider Commons. Either proposal would lead to resignations from the Cabinet and a split in the Tory ranks. The Chancellor, as we now know, has told representatives of big business that a no-deal Brexit would be taken off the table, which not only shows what side he’s really on but must validate one or two Corbynite prejudices against crony capitalism.
Until the Prime Minister resolves the “deal or no deal” contest, she is unable to make serious concessions to anyone. It is reported that in her meetings with MPS she is reading from a script; Nicola Sturgeon has said Mrs May will listen “but only if we all agree with her”. This is true, although it doesn’t excuse Mr Corbyn’s refusal to meet with the Prime Minister: as he suggested two years ago, one cannot start a dialogue unless one is prepared to talk. Nevertheless, visitors to No10 know they will be speaking with a Prime Minister whose authority has been undermined and is, for the moment, not empowered to offer anything new.
If anything does still hold the Conservatives together, however, it is fear and loathing of Mr Corbyn. In that sense he is Labour’s own worst enemy. Michael Gove’s brilliant, devastating conclusion to the no-confidence debate listed the numerous ways in which Mr Corbyn’s leadership has diminished politics and been associated with extremism. Whatever the twists and turns of Brexit, his role as opposition leader is a critical part of Tory calculations. They must know that they have to deliver Brexit – a proper Brexit – if only to win back the trust of the electorate and keep Mr Corbyn out of power for good.
‘There are only four options: cancel Brexit; delay Brexit; time runs out and there is no deal; or a customs arrangement’