Saturday, September 15, 2018
Tory splits on Brexit hits Conference preparations
The fact that the Tories are to treat leading campaigners for a third Brexit referendum in the same way as Russian diplomats and refuse them passes to their Conference, tells us everything we need to know about the paranoiac, divided and unhappy state of their party.
As the Guardian reports, three leading campaigners for a second Brexit referendum have been refused passes for the Conservative party conference, prompting them to complain that the governing party is suppressing voices it disagrees with:
Eloise Todd, Best for Britain’s director, was among those who were refused passes on Thursday night in a terse email that gave no explanation as to why her accreditation and that of two colleagues was not granted. Russian diplomats have also been refused passes.
“The Conservative party can put their heads in the sand but it doesn’t change the fundamental and unavoidable truth that public opinion is shifting away from Brexit,” Todd said. “A party of government should always be listening – even to voices it may disagree with.”
The paper says that Best for Britain will hold a fringe event at Birmingham outside the secure perimeter, with speakers including Phillip Lee, a Conservative junior minister who resigned over the government’s Brexit policy. The group also plans to buy a wraparound advert in the Birmingham Mail and take out billboards to remind Conservative delegates of their campaign.
However, the suppression of dissenting views within the Tory Party in this way will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of those Conservative MPs who have been campaigning for a rethink and win Theresa May no friends, at a time when she is most in need of allies.
As the Guardian reports, three leading campaigners for a second Brexit referendum have been refused passes for the Conservative party conference, prompting them to complain that the governing party is suppressing voices it disagrees with:
Eloise Todd, Best for Britain’s director, was among those who were refused passes on Thursday night in a terse email that gave no explanation as to why her accreditation and that of two colleagues was not granted. Russian diplomats have also been refused passes.
“The Conservative party can put their heads in the sand but it doesn’t change the fundamental and unavoidable truth that public opinion is shifting away from Brexit,” Todd said. “A party of government should always be listening – even to voices it may disagree with.”
The paper says that Best for Britain will hold a fringe event at Birmingham outside the secure perimeter, with speakers including Phillip Lee, a Conservative junior minister who resigned over the government’s Brexit policy. The group also plans to buy a wraparound advert in the Birmingham Mail and take out billboards to remind Conservative delegates of their campaign.
However, the suppression of dissenting views within the Tory Party in this way will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of those Conservative MPs who have been campaigning for a rethink and win Theresa May no friends, at a time when she is most in need of allies.
