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The claim from the pro-Brexit contingent in Labour is that once a deal is done, politics will 'move on' to domestic concerns such as the NHS. If the question is Brexit, the argument goes, the Tories are advantaged. If it's the state of the country, Labour will win 1/6
The claim from the pro-Brexit contingent in Labour is that once a deal is done, politics will 'move on' to domestic concerns such as the NHS. If the question is Brexit, the argument goes, the Tories are advantaged. If it's the state of the country, Labour will win 1/6
Even a basic understanding of Brexit reveals this to be nonsense. If the UK leaves, the clock will be ticking 31 Dec 2020 when we either conclude a new partnership for half our trade, extend the transition for £1b/month or enter the backstop. The argument will rage on and on. 2/6
Given May has already said she will go, Corbyn would be the only party leader going into a future General Election defending a deal that Leavers say isn't Brexit and Remainers say is inferior to EU membership. Pretty dumb as an electoral calculation. 3/6
So why are senior Labour strategists making such obvious mistakes? First, the ghost of the 2017 GE. They are trying to prove the proverb "you can't stand in the same river twice" wrong & recreate the unique circumstances of GE17, rather than engage in the reality of 2019. 4/6
The other reason is Lexit. As one leading Lexit proponent put it: "Corbyn's historic mission is to take Britain out the EU. No other Labour leader would allow it to happen". There are people alive today who believe the EU is the economic wing of NATO. No, really. 5/6
The truth is that Brexit is & will be the arena for politics into the 2020s. Yes, it's a colossal distraction from—& impairment to—solving problems from austerity to air quality & everything else in between. But it is pointless to pretend it can be wished away. It can't. 6/6
