Franklin, Andrews, Kramer & Edelstein

[scion]

The Guardian view on Theresa May’s vote of confidence: a reluctant reprieve

Editorial

Hard Brexit fanatics failed to unseat the prime minister. She must now be more explicit in ruling out their dangerous no-deal fantasies

Wed 12 Dec 2018 16.59 EST
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/12/guardian-view-theresa-may-vote-of-confidence-brexit

It is in keeping with Theresa May’s style of government that a confidence vote on her leadership was provoked not by something she did but by something she did not do. Dither has been her favoured tactic throughout the Brexit process. But in refusing to test the popularity of her deal in a Commons vote, Mrs May tested the limit of Conservative MPs’ patience.

They have let her continue as long as she stands down before a general election. That condition is inseparable from the 83-vote margin of her victory: enough, but far from resounding. The result conveys no depth of loyalty beyond a desultory demand to get on with Brexit. Mrs May’s orders are to settle that matter, then go.

It is a delusion to imagine that a new leader could manage the task much better than the incumbent. That idea expresses denial of how costly it is to deliver any Brexit, and how unrealistic the leave campaign promises proved to be. While Conservatives of all stripes have been frustrated by Mrs May, the most destructive animosity comes from Eurosceptic ideologues who refuse to take responsibility for positions they advocate. That sect has traduced decent, pragmatic Tory traditions and obstructed the path to rational compromise.

Mrs May delayed a vote in parliament to seek EU clarification on “backstop” provisions for the Irish border. But that is a non-negotiable feature of any withdrawal agreement, signed by any prime minister from any party. It is born of tension between the ambition to leave the EU and the duty to honour the Good Friday agreement.

What token assurances Brussels might add will not satisfy Tory hardliners. Nothing will satisfy them, because they see Brexit not as a practical exercise but as fulfilment of a nationalistic fantasy. These are MPs who think there is no serious harm in leaving the EU without a deal, that the UK should refuse to honour financial commitments already made, and that bridge-burning sabotage of a 45-year alliance is the truest realisation of the referendum mandate. Those dangerous beliefs are not shared by a majority of Conservatives, nor by a majority of leave voters.

The very act of calling a confidence vote expressed arrogance and hypocrisy. The arrogance is in believing that Britain’s destiny should be settled by internal debate within the Tory party – that at such a critical juncture, the prime minister can be chosen by around 100,000 Conservative members from a pair of candidates vetted by Tory MPs, disregarding the rest of the country. The hypocrisy is in trying such a thing in the name of democracy, claiming to channel “the will of the people” for a narrow partisan agenda.

Mrs May has many flaws and her misjudgments are a central cause of the current crisis, but not the only one. She has at least admitted that Brexit involves difficult trade-offs – between open trade and closed borders; between regulatory autonomy and market access. Leavers and remainers dislike the balance she has struck, but none can dispute that she has made choices. She does not pretend there is a perfect Brexit, which elevates her above challengers peddling dangerous no-deal fantasies. Mrs May must now be more explicit in excluding that option from the menu of possible Brexit outcomes. She must use her reprieve to marginalise the cabal that has steered the Conservative party – and the country – to the brink of calamity. To save herself she has sacrificed any prospect of serving beyond Brexit. Shabby deals that might have been done to procure support from MPs might also emerge. But yielding to fanatics and wreckers must now end. The hardliners made their big move and blew their chance. It was a fatal mistake for Mrs May ever to seek that faction’s favour or imagine that her interests would be served by satisfying their demands. Her own interests and those of the nation are aligned in seeing Europhobe zealots dispatched back to the fringe of British politics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/12/guardian-view-theresa-may-vote-of-confidence-brexit