Brave breakaway moderates should be applauded for trying

At last, seven Labour MPs have had the courage to break from the formerly mainstream party that has been invaded and taken over by the far left. After more than three years of the Corbynite experiment, defined by the spread of anti-semitic abuse emanating from deranged interlopers and the promulgation of “wired to the moon” economic lunacy advocated by East London hipster Marxists and extremist activists across the country, a portion of the moderates announced today that they have resigned from the party and will sit in the House of Commons as independent MPs.

They are Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker and Chuka Umunna, Ann Coffey, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie and Mike Gapes.

Every one of the seven should be applauded, even if you think (as I do) that they are plain wrong about Brexit and a referendum rerun. There is more to life than Brexit, and stopping Jeremy Corbyn must come near the top of the list. Plenty of us – voters, commentators – have said that it would be advisable for Britain to not be run by Magic Grandpa and the Marxist Maniacs, but talk is cheap. This group of moderates have had the courage to act.

The disruption is positive, even if ultimate success is far from guaranteed. Their move illuminates and dramatises an unfolding tragedy. Britain has benefitted enormously from having a mainstream left party that has been for almost a century anti-revolutionary, moderate, patriotic and parliamentary. That party has been stolen and corrupted.

The resignations also create practical difficulties for Jeremy Corbyn’s rather clever team of far left advisors who operate the leader as a puppet. Their job just got a little harder, with moderate, patriotic MPs motivated by public service all over the television and radio saying openly that they have had to leave the opposition party because it has been captured by the hard left and anti-semites. That charge has the merit of being true, making it hard for a band of hard leftists to pose at election time as caring and sharing concerned citizens.

For anyone of a non-extremist disposition, that is most of Britain, it is also refreshing to see the extremist Corbynistas getting a metaphorical knee in the groin.

At the very least, Corbyn’s strategists will have to expend energy and time dealing with the aftermath of these defections. And more Labour MPs might quit soon.

The breakaway could portend a bigger realignment and shake up of a system that has been shown by the Brexit shenanigans in the Commons to be overdue by reform. Hopefully, such reform will include reforming the existing House of Lords out of existence. The Tories should take the view that major constitutional reform post-Brexit – completing devolution too – is coming, and the question is whether it is done sympathetically or enacted by darker forces.

That all lies some way off, after the Brexit crisis. For now, Labour independents hope in their new enterprise that they will be joined by several Tory MPs, and some stray Lib Dems who are in despair at the non-leadership of Vince Cable. Incidentally, deselection is generally a daft idea, but several of those who are the focus of the ire of Tory activists seem to regard being a Tory as an entirely optional requirement for sitting as a Tory MP.

Incidentally, no criticism, on my part, is implied against those moderate Labour MPs who have decided, after much agonising, to stay inside Labour. Some will have come to the conclusion that with the first past the post voting system in Britain set up as it is (and little prospect it will change) the choice in terms of choosing a potential government in a general election becomes binary. That does not mean that other parties cannot help shape the result, or take part in government via coalition or a confidence and supply arrangement. But the Westminster system, as opposed to the devolved parliaments, comes down to a choice between the leaders of two broad tribes – Labour and Conservative.

Other Labour moderates, MPs and members, hope that the Corbynite madness will pass. Some take the perfectly understandable view that they will not be forced out by far left elements who have co-opted their movement.

Those moderates staying in Labour may be vindicated in the end. A splintering of the left in the 1980s forced a previous generation of Labour leaders to take control and move the party closer to the voters. There can be no guarantee that history will repeat itself, though.

There are other complications. There is already a centrist party that is even more anti-Brexit than the new Independents Group, and the Lib Dems are not getting very far. When the Independents become a fully-formed party they will also run right into geographical reality. From where in the country will they draw their support? Scotland and Wales are already overcrowded with parties. Will the Labour north switch? Labour is strong in the cities and London. Will there be a surge for the new centre party in the Midlands? It is hard to see how. That area is already highly competitive politically thanks to the existing parties.

Being anti-Brexit is not really a viable platform either. In several years time, when Britain has left the EU, the market will be for fresh economic and public services policies, not moaning about the Tory ERG or 2016.

There is another problem for a new party. The Conservatives, if they can ever get Brexit over the line and shed Theresa May in the aftermath, will under any of their likely leaders be fighting to win those voters the centrists are targeting. The Tories are forever written off, and then they find ways of surviving.

Those are questions and doubts about the viability of a new party that can wait. The seven have had the courage to commit an act of patriotism – causing difficulties for Corbyn – that should be applauded.

Have a good evening.

Iain Martin,
Editor and publisher,
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