Idea of democracy is lost on Labour

On BBC Radio Four’s Today programme yesterday, John Mcdonnell, the shadow chancellor, was questioned about Labour’s convoluted Brexit policy. In particular, he was asked what the party would put into an election manifesto should Jeremy Corbyn succeed in bringing down the Government in the no-confidence motion he intends to table next month.

This, said Mr Mcdonnell, would be a matter for debate inside Labour which would then reach a democratic decision. “If you sign up to democratic rules you have to abide by them,” he added.

He said this without a trace of irony; indeed, he was laughing at the very notion that anyone could possibly think otherwise. Yet when it comes to the democratic rules of the 2016 referendum, where a majority voted in favour of leaving the EU, he does not consider himself to be under any obligation to abide by them.

He wants to defeat Boris Johnson’s Government, win a general election, delay Brexit once more and hold another referendum with Labour offering the option to stay in the EU and, if Mr Mcdonnell gets his way, campaigning for such an outcome, albeit with an unspecified Brexit option also on the ballot paper. The internal rules of Labour seem to matter more to Mr Mcdonnell than those of the nation.

Mr Corbyn, meanwhile, made what was billed as a keynote speech ostensibly to clarify his party’s position but which left no one any the wiser. The country, he said, is heading into a political and constitutional storm because Mr Johnson is intent on taking Britain out of the EU on October 31 – a date agreed by Parliament and by the EU27.

Mr Corbyn is proposing he should head a crossparty coalition to stop this happening and is not prepared to countenance anyone else in that role. This means that if the Government did lose a motion of no confidence and a new administration was not formed within 14 days, Mr Johnson could call an election for a date after October 31, thereby defeating the entire point of bringing him down.

If Messrs Corbyn and Mcdonnell really believe in democracy and want to avoid no deal they could form a common purpose with the Government to persuade the EU that a new agreement is necessary to fulfil the instruction given to Parliament by the popular vote that has already taken place. Brexit supporters in Labour seats will doubtless take note of the fact that they have no intention of doing so.