Another crushing defeat for May's Brexit deal
Tonight the Prime Minister's Brexit deal fell short of a 150 votes. This was not as spectacular as the historic 432-202 defeat in January. Nevertheless, there is something even more absurd and humiliating about it. As Albert Einstein once said, insanity is "doing the same thing over again and expecting different results." For almost three years now, May had bulldozed ahead with her red lines and "no deal" threats. She has consistently failed to make any meaningful progress with parliament, mistaking stubbornness for resilience. Her mantra, throughout this process, has been: "we must respect the result of the referendum." If not, she assert, democracy in Britain would be threatened.
Irony and Dishonesty
There is irony and dishonesty in all of this. The irony is that while May claims to be acting in line with her democratic principles, she is flouting them on the other. If she were truly democratic, she would consult and take into consideration the views of the whole of parliament. All she has been doing, instead, is trying to appease the the hard Brexiteers within her party. This faction does not only include Conservative backbenchers, but also the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The DUP only have ten members of parliament, yet, because they are the coalition partners propping the Conservative government up, they wield power. Ironic too, is the fact that 55.78 of voters in Northern Ireland wished to remain in the EU. Indeed, a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will cause much hardship for businesses, farmers and commuters. Many fear a hard border might ignite the sort of sectarian tensions that existed before the Good Friday Agreement. The DUP are not representing the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland.
Whilst the irony may be the result of ineptitude and pressure, the dishonesty is not. There is no excuse for it. The Prime Minister knows full well that the referendum was flawed in a number of ways. First, the people were not clear on what they were voting for. There was no informed choice. Indeed, three years on, and parliament itself hasn't got a clue what Brexit means. Second, it is well documented that there was an aggressive disinformation campaign by the Pro Leave supporters. The promise of an extra £350,000,000 a week for the National Health Service is a notable example. Third, there were irregularities and cases of foreign interference, such as those relating to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. So, why should a second referendum be anti-democratic? The people could vote for her deal, no deal or to opt out of Brexit, now that the electorate is clearer regarding what it would entail. Calling that scenario "undemocratic" is absurd.
What happens next?
Judging by May's post-defeat speech, it seems as though the British people are in for more of the same. As the French say: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Even though she agreed to have a vote on a 'no deal' Brexit, this means nothing unless there are other options on the table. A 'no deal' exit from the EU would be a disaster for Britain and very bad for the EU. It is, nevertheless, the default scenario if no deal is reached by the end of March deadline. May knows this and made it clear in her speech. She also reiterated that her deal was the only possible one. In other words, by refusing to put the vote to the people, she is exactly where she has always been. "My deal or no deal." Totally insane!
No comments:
Post a Comment