Wednesday 14 June 2017

Everyone's cross about Brexit

After the general election, Nicola Sturgeon is quietly bleeding. For all the respect I have for the woman, I do not want Scottish independence, and it seems much of Scotland agrees. She’s walking wounded. However, that didn’t stop her making one of the most sensible suggestions I’ve heard in a long-time: that Brexit should be negotiated by a cross-party delegation.1

The idea sounds immediately brilliant. So brilliant in fact I have to wonder why is isn’t what we’re already doing? It sounds democratic, and representative and conciliatory. But that’s not what we’ve got.

Instead, in the furore and fallout of the 23rd of June 2016, we got Theresa May. She capitalised on Brexit, perhaps trying to look strong and stable, later announcing what she thought Brexit meant2 (Brexit, obviously…) and what her plans for the negotiations were.3 Some even began calling her Supreme Leader4 for her style of control.

And yet now we have a general election result which has destroyed the Supreme Leader in the most painful of ways,5 and it has (accidentally) thrown the questions of how and who re: Brexit wide open. YouGov recently did a poll which showed support for Mrs. Sturgeon’s idea (an idea, let’s be honest, that only came about because Sturgeon hasn’t gotten what she really wanted), with 51% of participants wanting a cross-party delegation.6

Now, 51% isn’t much of a majority, but considering Brexit is an issue because of 52%,7 I’d be hesitant to dismiss the poll quite so soon if I were a Tory Brexiteer.

That’s besides the fact that YouGov were one of the few pollsters during the general election that seemed to get anything close to the actual result.8 Indeed, we can criticise methodology sometimes – and I very much encourage people to do so – but right now YouGov are having their moment in the sun.

The idea seems sensible for another reason. If the government of the day must lead the talks, who will lead when we don’t exactly have a legitimate government? Of course, we can debate the word legitimate, and yes Corbyn didn’t win, but neither did May, or anyone else for that matter. Following Mrs. May’s own mantra, surely now she must cede some control of the talks to Labour, the SNP and others? Surely, a Brexit for Britain should be a Brexit that represents Britain, no?

But this will not happen. For the same reason that Mrs. Sturgeon’s current weakness has prompted her to soften her position, Mrs. May must harden hers. To cede any say to any other party, to give Mr. Starmer or anyone else (besides maybe someone of the Northern Irish9 persuasion) a seat at the table, or to make Corbyn look even vaguely legitimate as a leader, undermines her near hollow position.

For Mrs. May, the noose is already around her neck. But in the name of Tory preservation the party has stayed the execution. A cross-party delegation would almost certainly cause her to fall through the floor, and she knows it.


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