No. 52 – The European Elections & A Message to Tory Contenders – Back Business, Don’t F…it!

Dear James, 

What a week! Your head must be spinning. What’s it like to be in a political centrifuge being pushed outwards towards the extremes of Tory party ideology? As predicted, the tsunami of last week’s Euro elections has swept over you and your party leaving a trail of destruction behind it. Ok it was largely a protest vote (the turnout was only 37%) but none the less your party won only 9% of the vote.  Most of your defectors went to the six week old Brexit Party aka Nigel Farage’s Circus of Angry People. They took 31.6% of the vote and have left you James, with a few decisions to make. Of course, your party will be tempted to swing right to win back most of those defectors and if one of your ‘No dealer’ enthusiasts takes the helm you will be in a pretty dilemma I guess. The Tory Party will become a nationalistic, closed-in, isolate in world affairs and the nation will be stuck for many years in this dead end, cul de sac of nostalgic yearning. Will you go with them? Or will you stand up and fight for a One Nation Tory Party? 

Before you make your decision James, look once again at the results of last week’s vote. Mr Farage’s vote only increased by about 7% on the 2014 election. His number of seats increased from 27 to 29 – again a 7% increase. Let’s face it – he has reached stalling point. Leaving aside the disastrous Labour and Tory votes, it meant that the clear Brexiteers won only 34.9% of the vote. Assuming that the Tories who stayed loyal to their party voted for Brexit, this leads to 44% for Brexit. On the other side, however, the clear Pro-Europe vote was 40.4%. Assuming however, that 70% of those loyal Labour supporters were pro-Europe, the Pro-Europe vote would have risen to 50.27%.  Now I know that there are lots of assumptions in this, but if I were you I would not take any risks. The mood of the country since 2016 has changed. If the Tories tack to the Faragiste right you will be out of power for a generation. 

But your Party’s obsession persists. It is focussed on nothing but its own survival while the rest of the nation looks on in dismay as we continue to decay economically. The motor industry recorded a 44% fall in output in April due to the false expectation of departure from the EU. The SMTT chief executive, Mike Hawes, said yesterday: “Today’s figures are evidence of the vast cost and upheaval Brexit uncertainty has already wrought on UK automotive manufacturing businesses and workers. This is why no deal must be taken off the table immediately and permanently.” 

Despite such calls, for the next two months we will all be distracted by the awful show boating of up to 16 mediocre politicians from your party. Who do they represent? Not most of the country I am sure. Most of them will be talking rubbish and claiming that Mrs May was weak and that they would stand up to the awful Europeans and get a better deal. What delusions do these people live under I wonder? What is about Junker’s phrase, ‘There will be no renegotiation’ that they don’t understand? One, Boris Johnson, will be subject to court proceedings concerning allegations of lying in the 2016 referendum. Despite this, there is a strong chance that your new leader will opt for a ‘No deal’ crash out using WTO rules. Boris’s notorious ‘F…business' remark will have come to fruition. Any party that even contemplates this would be guilty of economic treason. Today the CBI warns, in an open letter to all the MPs running to lead your party, that a no-deal scenario would do "severe" damage to businesses. Is there any hope that your party will see sense?

Well, perhaps there is light at the end of this dark, Tory tunnel. Yesterday Phillip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, struck the match of common sense in this all pervading Tory gloom. He would vote for a People’s Referendum if his party, your party, having failed to get a change in the agreement, then headed for a no deal Brexit. That was brave James. At last someone in your party has woken up and smelt the coffee. 

Oh, and by the way, the other thing that Mr Hammond said was that a decision in the national interest trumps a decision in the Tory Party interest. 

Do you agree James? I hope so. For all our sakes. 

We shall be watching!

Kind regards, 

BH - Your Concerned Constituent