Tory crisis was perfectly avoidable
If the Tory Party was a family pet it would be taken to a local vet and put down out of kindness, says Peter Bingle.
Has there ever been a more incompetent or hopeless government? Has there ever been a more hapless Prime Minister?
John Major now looks like a political giant in comparison to a PM who confounds her critics by surviving for another day! Oh, woe is me.
It is a paradox that the greatest political challenge facing any government since World War Two – Brexit – is being managed by a government which will go down in history as the most shambolic in living memory. The fact that it is still more popular than the official opposition party shows just how useless, extreme and pathetic Jeremy Corbyn is.
From day one Michel Barnier dictated the terms of Brexit and outplayed his British counterparts. The moment ministers accepted the idea that there could not be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic the game was lost. David Davis and his ministerial team should hang their collective heads in shame. They were totally outplayed.
Having a useless opposition party has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the PM knows that despite being hopeless the public regard Jeremy Corbyn as being even more hopeless. The downside is that the government is incompetent, chaotic and, at best, shambolic. Nobody knows what it stands for, least of all Tory MPs.
Nothing better defines or symbolises what is wrong with the PM than the Chequers Brexit White Paper. It insulted everyone who voted Brexit and declared war on Tory activists. For this alone, she deserves to be replaced. What is unforgivable is that despite clear evidence that Tory activists, Brexit voters and most Tory MPs regard the Chequers White Paper as dead she refuses to back down. This isn't political courage. It is stupidity.
So the PM has plunged her party into an unnecessary crisis. It is so serious that talk of a split is no longer regarded as fanciful. When a PM shows disdain and contempt for her own party's activists a happy ending is unlikely!
With party conference fast approaching it is essential that party managers sort the issue and quickly. The simple fact is this. If the Tory Party was a family pet it would be taken to a local vet and out of kindness put down. These are not good days for the party of Disraeli, Baldwin, Churchill and Thatcher.
For those of us who care about the Tory Party and lie awake at night worrying about its future the one reassuring fact is this. There is no more ruthless political organisation in the western world. The PM will be despatched at the necessary moment. And of course there is always Jeremy Corbyn. We all pray to St Jude every night …
