Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Does Tory-Brexit Party pact presage a hard no-deal exit from the EU?
In many ways it was inevitable that Nigel Farage would bow to all the pressure and make a deal with the Tory Party. After all Boris Johnson was his favoured candidate for Tory leader, while the dysfunctional deal the Prime Minister negotiated with the EU is much closer to the Brexit Party leader's position than that secured by Theresa May.
Nevertheless, the announcement that the Brexit Party would stand down in the 317 seats the Tories won in 2017 was a surprise, if only because of Farage's gung-ho insistence that this election was an all or nothing endeavour for his limited company.
As the Guardian reports, Farage has agreed to make way at the very last minute for incumbent Tories, but so far has been silent on those seats the ruling minority party want to take off others. Inevitably this makes a Tory majority more likely, but it also tells us a great deal about the nature of a new Conservative Government.
For all intents and purposes the Tory Party has become a shadow Brexit Party, committed to isolating the UK in subsequent post-Brexit negotiations with the EU. It is a pact that has the potential to wreck the UK economy, lead to the further persecution of EU citizens in the UK as well as other migrant workers, and undermine much of our industrial base.
There is no longer any room in the Conservative Party for moderates and pro-Europeans. They have tacked hard right, leaving many of their members and voters behind. The job of those parties committed to remaining in the EU now, is to convince Tory voters of that fact and deny Boris Johnson the majority he so craves.
Nevertheless, the announcement that the Brexit Party would stand down in the 317 seats the Tories won in 2017 was a surprise, if only because of Farage's gung-ho insistence that this election was an all or nothing endeavour for his limited company.
As the Guardian reports, Farage has agreed to make way at the very last minute for incumbent Tories, but so far has been silent on those seats the ruling minority party want to take off others. Inevitably this makes a Tory majority more likely, but it also tells us a great deal about the nature of a new Conservative Government.
For all intents and purposes the Tory Party has become a shadow Brexit Party, committed to isolating the UK in subsequent post-Brexit negotiations with the EU. It is a pact that has the potential to wreck the UK economy, lead to the further persecution of EU citizens in the UK as well as other migrant workers, and undermine much of our industrial base.
There is no longer any room in the Conservative Party for moderates and pro-Europeans. They have tacked hard right, leaving many of their members and voters behind. The job of those parties committed to remaining in the EU now, is to convince Tory voters of that fact and deny Boris Johnson the majority he so craves.
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