Labour's big Brexit blunder

The Labour Party has voted for a policy which even the most third rate adviser must realise is a massive error of judgment, warns Peter Bingle.

There are times in politics when you scratch your head in disbelief at the sheer stupidity of a decision. The Labour Party's decision to come out in favour of a second referendum and campaign as a Remain supporting party is one of those times. It is a decision that they will live to regret. They will pay a very heavy price at the next general election.

Labour MPs representing Brexit supporting constituencies in the Midlands and the North have been thrown into the abyss by their own party. How can they campaign to remain in the EU when they know their constituents take the opposite view? They are on the horns of a dilemma.

Ironically, the only way out for these MPs is to vote for a Brexit deal put before the House of Commons by the new Tory PM. They have to have been seen to have voted for Brexit before the next election. It is the only chance they have of keeping their seats.

So there we have it. The Labour Party is going to drive forty or perhaps fifty Labour MPs into the lobby with Tory MPs to finally agree a withdrawal deal. Crazy or not? It just beggars belief as it achieves the complete opposite of what the likes of Keir Starmer and Tom Watson have been trying to achieve.

So why has the Labour Party decided to abandon Brexit supporting Labour voters? The only rationale reason is that the party is now controlled by a mainly London based middle-class intelligentsia, epitomised perfectly by Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry.

Labour's decision to abandon scores of seats in the Midlands and the North is a gift for the new Tory PM, provided that Brexit is finally delivered. It is hard to recall a better opportunity for the Tory Party to dominate in parts of the country which have been Labour Party bastions since time began.

So the Labour Party has voted for a policy which even the most third rate adviser must realise is a massive error of judgment. These are crazy days in the body politic.