The establishment Brexit stitch-up is already under way, writes Leo McKinstry
Refusing to accept the will of the people, they have used parliamentary manoeuvres, court cases, media propaganda and collusion with EU bureaucrats. But so far nothing has worked. Until now Brexit has remained firmly on course. But a dark new opportunity for retreat has arisen due to the outcome of the general election. Theresa May has lost her previously strong position on Brexit, handing the initiative to the enemies of British sovereignty. On the continent the oligarchs of Brussels glory in her problems. Within her Cabinet there is a new confidence among the pro-EU forces led by Chancellor Philip Hammond. From the Tories’ political graveyard emerge the ghouls of statesmen past to rattle their Europhile chains.
GETTY / REUTERS Sir John Major, Nick Clegg and David Cameron oppose Brexit
This is not what the British people backed last June
The party “must lance the boil of Brexit,” declares Lord Heseltine. “A hard Brexit was not endorsed by the electorate,” wails former prime minister Sir John Major. But Major’s point could hardly be more wrong-headed. It is just a delusion to claim that last week the electorate somehow overturned the referendum result or issued a demand for a watered-down withdrawal. If anything the general election represented an endorsement of last year’s decision. About 85 per cent of all votes were cast for parties that explicitly supported full Brexit, including our departure from the single market and an end to free movement. The Tories’ surprising failure was caused not by the party’s stance on the EU but by a combination of Theresa May’s failure to defend the Government’s economic success story and her controversial social policies.
Ironically a strong approach on Brexit was one of the Conservatives’ few clear, popular messages. It is telling that some of the party’s worst results last week were achieved by highprofile Remainers such as Neil Carmichael, the MP for Stroud and chairman of the Conservative Group on Europe, who described the public vote for Brexit in 2016 as “a bereavement.” His majority of almost 5,000 disappeared in the face of the Labour surge. That advance for the Left was made possible because Jeremy Corbyn, against the advice of his overwhelmingly pro-Remain parliamentary party, gave the appearance of embracing a genuine Brexit. Apart from some bland rhetoric about jobs, his policy seemed no different in substance to May’s. It was a shrewd if cynical strategy which ensured that Labour attracted large numbers of former Ukip voters in the North and the Midlands. In contrast all the parties that fervently supported Remain did badly. The Lib Dems saw their minuscule national vote fall even further, while Nick Clegg, High Priest of the Europhile faith, lost his seat. The fanatically pro-EU Scottish Nationalists did even worse, losing 21 of their MPs. Both the Greens and the Welsh Nationalists saw a decline.
PA The advance for the Left was made possible because Jeremy Corbyn
Yet this democratic verdict in favour of Brexit appears to mean nothing to the political class. Bent on retaining our subservience to Brussels these Europhile operators are planning a classic establishment stitch-up by exploiting the arithmetic of the new House of Commons. Because the Tories do not have an overall majority the cause of national independence will be highly vulnerable to ambush and obstruction. Apart from May’s own divided Cabinet there are a number of other strands to the growing anti-Brexit forces. One is Corbyn’s Labour Party, which is likely to abandon its tough electoral stance and focus on creating the maximum amount of trouble for the Government. Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer signalled this week that Labour could support single market membership, a change that would make a mockery of the party’s campaign pledges. Another strand is the 13-strong, semi-detached band of Scottish Conservative MPs led by the supremely self-confident Remainer Ruth Davidson.
GETTY The party “must lance the boil of Brexit,” declares Lord Heseltine